The Line in the Sand

Mass Exodus

2009-10-21T20:02:00.000-07:00

Well, for some reason I got really convicted by Francis Chan's sermon a week or two ago and as a result I have been led to read the book of Exodus.

The whole new testament is about Jesus and his teachings and the creation of the church, but the old testament is a narrative about God appearing for the first time, and making the Hebrews his chosen people.

I am looking forward to learning more about God and his moving in the days of Moses, Aaron, Joshua, Caleb, and the 4 million Hebrews that left Egypt and wandered in the desert for 40 years.

Hard though to put away my mental picture of this guy.....

Learning about Site Specific Browsers

2009-10-21T19:58:00.000-07:00

Had some fun tonight creating Site Specific Browsers for the ol MBPro.

Thanks to Fluidapp.com, it is painfully easy, and creating dock icons is quite fun.

Here's a screen grab.

Go to Fluidapp.com, download the easy software. Determine which sites you go to most, plug them in and enjoy a single browser view.

Here's what it looks like in action.

2009-10-16T13:56:00.000-07:00

Had a great time in Baltimore last weekend. Got to see the Bengals and Ravens with my good friend Tom. Such beautiful weather, and great times with good people. While I always hate missing church, I was so glad to be able to spend time with my friends. Everytime I get to be in the company of those who I love and respect, I feel a little taste of heaven on earth. The fact the Bengals got a win was a slice of heaven too. I am truly blessed.

Upon This Rock (Literally) I Will Build My Church

2009-09-01T18:55:00.000-07:00

Peters House in Capernaum from Mars Hill Church on Vimeo.

Great stuff coming from MarsHill lately. Pastor Mark Driscoll is in the holy land this month, and some of his videos are up. Great stuff, he is so knowledgeable, I would love to take a tour there with him.

Pursuit of Holiness

2009-08-30T21:08:00.000-07:00

Know Free Grace, and its power in your life...............AND SIN NO MORE

Holiness is something I think we tend to ignore. I know to my own fault I don't nearly fight enough to stop sinning. I don't know how I became so ho-hum about this, probably my sin nature. However, we see that Jesus after healing he warns us that if we neglect the holiness we are called to we will perish forever.

Jesus himself, saying that if we make light of the gift, we will perish.

It is my hope that this week I can take a small step in pursuing holiness with a pure and just passion. It needs to be something that I crave, something that is meditated upon. The power of the holy spirit is so great, I know it can move me to personal holiness and it can use my example to bring those seeds I have planted around me to harvest.

The 7 Day Challenge

2009-08-10T06:16:00.000-07:00

from jdgreear.com by Pastor J.D.

In case you mentioned, or need clarification... the challenge for the Summit Church is for the next 7 days to say everything positive that comes into your mind about someone else (or jot a note to them).

This challenge is built on two assumptions:

God's words are not just true words, they are life-giving words (Prov 4:22; 10:11). God calls things not just as they are, but as they could be, as He wants them to be, and as He can make them to be. He did not merely say, "Abraham is sterile," He said, "You will father a great nation." He did not merely say "Lazarus is dead," He said "Lazarus come forth." God "calls into existence the things that do not yet exist." (Romans 4:17). So, we also must not only speak true words, we must life-giving, power-filling, en-couraging words. Otherwise, we might, like the 10 spies, speak words that are true but are still considered evil because they are not done with respect to what God wants to do in a situation (Numbers 13:32).

The spiritual gift of encouragement is one of the most valuable, and most overlooked, of all the spiritual gifts. We tend to assume the strengths in people's lives and notice/point out the weakness. I believe we should reverse that. We should assume the weaknesses, and notice/point out the strengths. One of our primary roles as the body of Christ is to see God’s the traces of God’s work in someone’s life, no matter how faint, and fan that into flame. Jesus spoke words of life and hope, not words of condemnation. Jesus held a crown above our heads and urged us to grow our way into it. We should do the same (John 1:17; 7:46).

So, there it is... it's out there. Give it a try. 7 days... everything positive you think about someone, say it. If you do it, I can pretty much guarantee you it will change your relationships. Let me know how it goes!

If you missed the message, it is here.

Do Something Today, So You Can Laugh At It Later

2009-07-23T21:37:00.000-07:00

Listening to an old Francis Chan sermon and he says something like this,

"Do you realize that our bonds on earth will last far longer than you can imagine? 100 years from now, 1000 years from now we will be together in heaven, as children of God. It's gonna be like, 100 years from now, Me and Ben will be in heaven, and I will say, remember that time at Cornerstone when we thought about us talking to each other in heaven 100 years from now? That was in like 2005, and here we are in 2105 and its happening?"

Francis goes on to say something that is kind of convicting for me, he says,

"We don't think about Heaven enough."

Honestly, heaven to me isn't something I think about much and in some ways that is good, and other ways that is bad.

How is it good? Well, I guess it shows that my faith isn't motivated by me wanting to simply share in eternal life and wanting to avoid the fire.

The bad? Well let's see, I don't think of the eternal fate of my friends enough, so I don't have urgency in trying to urge them to accept Christ. I don't think about how my actions on earth echo in heaven, and how my constant failures must be acknowledged before my maker and mighty king. Oh this list could go on forever.

I guess what I am trying to say is, I really want to think about heaven more.

I wish I had this overwhelming fire in my loins that kept me forging always ahead to expand the kingdom of God. I want so much to be a soul winner, and to be someone who helps others find Christ, but without a heavenly disposition it feels ill fated. I wish that the idea of FOREVER really resonated within me and that I could grasp the greatness of the fact that after my life on earth is done, my eternity will be spent praising Jesus. Grasping the greatness of heaven is something I wish I could do. I wish I could get you to do it too.

In the mean time, listen to this song, and download it on itunes when you get a chance. It is the new Steve Fee song, Glory to God Forever.

Try to think about the Forever part of it.

Notes From Great Sermons of Late

2009-07-20T23:01:00.000-07:00

I have really ramped up my sermon listening this summer, I have completed one notebook and am tearing through another quite quickly. Since I am again, not at all tired, I felt I should come here and throw down a few bullets from recent messages.

1. "direction determines destination"~Andy Stanley

The path you choose early impacts you far far down the road. Often it becomes too late to fix the errors we see because they were done so long ago. We can't undo bad decisions of yesterday.

What we want is to know all the information we can so we can make the best decision possible at the time. Unfortunately, even if we have the information we seem to neglect it. Solomon had the most insight of any man who ever lived and yet he still made poor choices. All we really need to know can be found in; Proverbs 3:5-7

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
6 In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.
7 Be not wise in your own eyes;
fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.

In every aspect of life, lean hard on him. Not information, not research you have done, not even wise counsel. Lean hard on his word, and TRUST him. Don't make the mistake of ever thinking you know well enough. Pride overrides all wisdom, we think we know better. Submission precedes direction. When you realize God knows better and trust, your lot is much better.

2. "What IF everyone mattered?"~Brad O'brien

Why does our idea of mercy seem to be devoid of the Old testament? We see Mercy as God forgiving us of our sins. This is real mercy, but it lacks the severity. This is the same God who ordered his people to level cities, burned homes, and turned people into pillars of salt. True mercy is the fact we get up and walk each day not worrying about complete destruction. That is mercy from a God full of great mercy.

Mercy in the Old Testament was really hard to miss. Why has mercy become so hard to spot today? What if we put it back in people's faces. What if we did take the Levitical commands seriously? Leviticus 19:9-10

9 “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. 10 And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God.

Focus on those who are poor and are needy. Set aside the outer edges for the sojourner. This was a commandment to God's people. Our mercy should be intentional, God's Old Testament people were shown how to leave behind wealth for the needy, as an act of mercy to the poor from a God who supplies. Leave margin, so you have means for mercy.

3. "Our desires are the truest thing that comes from our hearts, and yet they are rarely the best thing for us. What does that say about our hearts?"~J.D. Greear

God created us all according to his plan. Not our plan, or our parents, but his. We must bring our lives into conformity. We are taught as children to be unique, focus on what makes us different, but what we really should be doing is focusing on conforming to what God wants us to be. This requires humility, saying we as individuals aren't that important.

We should live in harmony with God's creation, subdue our wishes, and put away our desires and focus on God's charge for our lives. Our desires are the truest thing that comes from our hearts, and yet they are rarely the best thing for us. What does that say about our hearts?

How do we put away our needs to feel unique and conform? We fear God's importance, we recognize his essentiality to our daily operation. We do what we can to avoid hurting our relationship with him. Some of us have made cell phones essential to our daily lives. We go long and far to make sure we have our phone with us, we avoid traveling in places where we might lose signal. The phone has become essential to our survial. God's presence in our lives was built to operate like this. God isn't built to be some assistant to us. He is our CEO, the one who moves us. He moves us in good direction when we let him.

What do you fear?

2009-07-18T23:51:00.000-07:00

Pastor J.D. said something in his message last week that is really getting at me tonight.

His question was, "what do you fear?"

The meaning for his question was that, what you fear....is really what you love. It is what you have deemed essential to your life. If you fear losing a loved one, you have deemed it essential to have loved ones close in relationship with you. If you fear being poor, you have made the concept of monetary security essential to your being.

So as I sit hear thinking about the question he asked, I have to be brutally honest with myself.

What do I fear?

I haven't really ever pondered it, and to be honest I don't think I am very good at knowing my true inner workings. All I can do is look at my actions and journals from my past.

My Fear: Being alone

I think many of us share this thought. Being in my mid-20's and having recently uprooted my life and moved away from everyone I know, this is my most present fear. I fear that I won't find a girl that would love me for me. I fear that I won't find a relationship to enjoy. I fear that I won't make friends in my new town. I fear that the friends I have will drag me farther away from where God wants me to be. I fear that I won't make good Christian friends, and in turn my walk with Christ will diminish and I won't have a Timothy to help keep me fighting the good fight.

This fear has pervaded my thoughts since I moved, and to be quite honest, I think it has been in my mind's recesses for years. It was awakened when I moved from North Dakota to Ohio, it was stirred when I graduated high school and went to college, and it has come to a full boil in my moving to N.C.

The question is what do I do with these fears?

Pastor Greear illustrated that our fears are really our own wisdom's prioritization of our needs. It is what our learned experience tells us we need to function. It is what my heart says I want. In Proverbs we see the author constantly telling his son that he should be wary of his heart, because it is wicked, and broken by sin. (Prov. 3:5-Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your paths).

It is in hearing this that I see what I have been doing for the past few months. I have in essence been reading a road map that is incorrect. I have been wandering aimlessly, trying to find my way, and navigate through new challenges. I have been following what my heart would say I needed to do in order to feel happy. Unfortunately, my heart map is wayyyyy off. My map is broken with my own sin. My sinful desires have destroyed my relationship with God, and has made it difficult to seek his direction in my life. I have become lost.

I don't know if I am close to finding my way back, I don't feel like it. I want to have the relationship that I once had with God, daily devouring his words, loving the messages he was giving me. But it seems in the midst of the changes I have lost it, and I don't know how to get it back. It is now that the fears creep up, me wishing I had a helper, to guide me back. It goes back to being alone. I genuinely hope that the Lord hears my prayers, and will bring me back to him. Helper or not, my fears have broken my relationship, and I want what Proverbs 3:24 guarantees.

"If you lie down, you will not be afraid. When you lie down, your sleep will be sweet."

At 3:07 AM, and fears abounding, I pray the Lord meet me and grant me this rest.

This book is meeting me right where I am

2009-07-01T22:30:00.001-07:00

I can't seem to put this book down tonight. It literally is speaking the events of my life over and over again. Right now, when I feel much pain over changes, lack in relationships, and a desire to be heard and more importantly a desire to be someone that someone wants to speak to, Xan Hood's book Untamed : Becoming the Man You Want to Be is speaking to me specifically.

On page 81 I found a journal entry he wrote, that basically encapsulates my hearts desire. Listen in.

"I am looking for guys who want to know me, and a place where I can get to know guys. I want to feel safe and to be able to trust those guys to share my story, my past and for others to see their is a purpose behind my life --- that there is a weight to my life, and they want to help me come into the fullness of it.

I want it to be a fellowship that doesn't meet because it is the Christian thing to do, or to feel good about it, or just to study the Bible, but because it is necessary for survial in this world. I need to find other guys who have my back while I have theirs. That it is life and death. I am looking for brothers who desire to find companions, fellow soldiers, who are on the battlefield serving and who are prepared to live and die for this cause of Christ.

I want to find men who have been fired upon, who have been through trials and suffering, but are stronger and walk closer to God because of it. I want to walk with brothers who are not afraid to ask me tough questions, reveal their own weaknesses, and walk in true strength. I want to find friends what want more from life and friendship. Guys who don't settle for an hour of study, or a short conversation, but want more. And want to ultimately walk in truth, and with Jesus, and live and die for this purpose that is so much greater than ourselves."

Whew! That is basically everything that I want. I want more of course, but in reading I find myself petitioning God saying, "Lord, send them to me. I need help, I need friends who want this too. You have given me so much, I feel blessed, but a huge chunk of me is completely rotting away. Hear my prayer. Help me to get out of my own way. Help me to not to act out of my insecurities. Help me to be genuine, to be honest and forthright. Accepting of my flaws and my deep desires. At this late hour Lord, you know the struggles I am fighting, and how my will breaks a little more each day. Do what only you can do. I am hopeful.

A good day for evolutionary scientists, what about you and your faith?

2009-05-19T18:42:00.000-07:00

News of the heralded "missing link" flooded media outlets today, providing evolutionary scientists the coveted missing link to the theory of evolutionary species.

The emergence of the "75 million" year old fossil, which for the last 20 years has been in a German man's basement, has provided scientists with evidence of evolutionary process. The skeleton of a lemur monkey complete with fingernails instead of a claws and a metatarsal bone that is unique to humans allowed those followers of Charles Darwin to proclaim his theory correct.

So this begs the question, if scientists are ever closer to "proving" their theory of evolution of man, does this kill your God?

If your idea of God hinges upon absolutism of the Bible and the firm belief that God created man in his own image, and did so as part of his 7 days process, how has this news affected you?

Many Christians have since moved from the absolutism that has dominated since the scopes trial, but as more and more information becomes available and scientists claim to disprove Biblical teaching, will you be ok?

It takes me back to a Rob Bell thought in his book Velvet Elvis, he speaks of our belief system not being like a brick wall, where if a brick is taken out of the bottom the whole wall can fall, but as a series of springs hooked to a trampoline. Not one spring is essential to its purpose, but when used in combination with other springs it works as it should.

In the future man will continue to try to dispel biblical truths and in essence kill God. My question is, will you remain resolute in your faith, will you change what you believe, or will you stand among the crowd and assert your "antiquated non-scientific beliefs".

What Christians need to remember

2009-05-15T17:21:00.001-07:00

Not an indictment against any leader, because many share his view. It is an indictment against all those who would seek to prematurely end a life.

21 Days of Prayer Challenge

2009-05-03T19:14:00.000-07:00

Sometimes in life, things come at just the right time.

I am beginning to think that today was one of those days.

Over the past few days I have been wallowing a bit. Depressed by my lack in finding a sense of community in my new surroundings, I began to wallow in my own self-pity. I have become very introspective, wondering exactly what can be done to help me, to serve me, to make things better for me. I get into these slumps when for a period of time things don't go exactly like I have planned.

Last night, when going to the local church here in Burlington I sat in the pews struggling to concentrate on things outside of myself. In church, a place where my focus should be singularly on Christ and his repeated blessings over me, and the gift that he so freely gave to me. Despite the overwhelming awesomeness of God, I still sat in my pew annoyed at how the worship sounded, angered that this church wasn't going how I thought it should, and upset that on a Saturday night I had nothing better to do than go to Church and sit by myself.

Yes, I was being very self-absorbed. I know this.

Despite my knowing this, the behavior continued this morning. As I drove to Durham to go to church I found myself listening to songs I have listened to hundreds of times over before. As the song God of this City echoed over my stereo I found myself wondering, if I really believed that "greater things are yet to come, greater things are yet to be done in this city". For so long I have held that song close to my heart, as a message of hope that God would ultimately redeem all of this brokenness for his glory. That every knee in my city would bow and worship the king I have worshipped for so long. Today those feelings were gone. I stewed over the lyrics, asking myself, and even twittering a message that said, "I feel now that God has forsaken our cities".

Quite arrogant of me to think such a thought, that my view of my surroundings was enough to claim that God may have forsaken the city. Wondering if I was some sort of modern Jeremiah, I sat in church and pondered that thought.

It was then that God used the service to change my attitude.

After his sermon Pastor J.D. challenged the congregation. In an effort to greater connect with the new series OMG!, we were challenged to take 10 minutes out of each day and pray.

10 measly minutes out of our day to sit down and converse with the creator and judge over all.

In a way to start off our challenge, campus pastor Brad O'Brien broke the congregation up into four groups and asked us to pray for a specific detail about our city. Fate it seemed, that I was being asked to pray for a city, an area that only hours ago I had wondered if God had forsaken.

As the believers around me began to pray, I could not concentrate on the words I hoped to say to my God, I simply sat and listened in amazement. It has been so long since I sat in the midst of so many persons praying out loud, petitioning their heavenly father. Words such as, "faith", "trust", "hope", "love", "thanks" and "grateful" filled my ears and stirred my heart. I found myself sitting there saying only one thing over and over again; "hear the prayers of your people Lord, hear the prayers of your people".

It was on the drive home that I realized, that the city wasn't forsaken, I had forsaken it in my heart. I had cast it out. Much in the same way Jonah forsook the city of Nineveh, I had given up on the city around me. I felt ashamed.

God brought me here for a reason, for what I am still unsure. I do know that this city hasn't yet been as welcoming to me as I would have liked, but that is my fault. I have been too inwardly focused, too self-serving. So it seemed appropriate, that today begins a period where I am instructed to put focus away from myself and focus on the needs of others, through prayer.

So today I begin the challenge, hoping that in doing so, my heart will grow closer to that of God. Just as in other periods in my life, I have felt so close to the lord that my every action was done in an effort to please him, I go in prayer tonight hoping that my actions return to that of his favor.

I am thankful for good instruction, and very thankful that I found a church that continues to challenge me spiritually. I am thankful, I am thankful, yes Lord despite my squabbling, I am thankful.

The Power of Prayer.....From Others

2009-04-25T21:26:00.001-07:00

I think sometimes people just don't get it.

We have a huge collection of the teachings of Christ, the Son of God mind you, and yet we continue in practices that don't jive with what he was doing when on earth.

One of my practices tonight struck me.

At times of despair in my own life, I have been known to batten down the hatches and take things on myself. Never wanting to burden others, and also believing I am strong enough to handle it, I have done my best at times to solve my own problems.

It is in my fits of pride, that I usually admit defeat, crawl on my knees and ask God for help.

It is in my prayers for help that I read this verse,

Matthew 9:2
And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.”

The part where it says, "their faith" got me.

It wasn't the faith of the paralytic that led Christ to forgiving his sins, and ultimately making him walk. It was the faith of those who carried him.

I need to do a better job of praying for others. I know this.
I know this even more now as I see that the power of prayer works best when we carry other saints to the feet of Christ. When others pour their troubles out to us, we hear their needs, and lift them up in prayer. This kind of faith is what Jesus used to heal the paralytic.

So, being the paralytic that I can be, I realize that if I truly want the power of prayer to work in my life I must pour out my heart to those people I know will lift me up in prayer. It may sound selfish that I am trying to make an effort to get others to pray for me in times of need, but I think Christ would prefer to hear from others about my afflictions than to hear from me. Just as he would rather hear the prayers of my heart, hear my heart felt desires to see someone's life improved. I think the heart of Christ is so focused on the needs of others, that confessing our needs instead of the needs of others is less warming to the hearts of our creator.

My only question is, what can I pray about for you tonight?

In the mean time, listen to the song Carried to the table by Leeland. It is fitting given this post.

Jesus Came To Save Christians: By Rob Bell and Don Golden

2009-03-26T09:44:00.000-07:00

Finally!
I finished this book I have for so long read in small pieces.

I picked it up at lunch, and began to read, and then all of a sudden I was in the endnotes. Didn't realize I was so far along.

As I try to do in some cases, I am posting some reflections from the book. Key passages and quotes that I found thought provoking or poignant. Here goes.

Rob writes the opening to the book, a letter to the reader. Just as Paul did he ends it by saying,"Grace and Peace". When I purchased this book, his current sermon series was titled, Grace and Peace.

Bell in his letter says this book is, "an attempt to articulate a specific theology, a particular way to read the Bible, referred to by some as A New Exodus Perspective.....It occurs to me that it is in Bell's attempt to get people to "read the Bible a different way" that so many have become ardent critics. The idea that we may be in a new exodus, or worse that we are forcing some to be in an exodus doesn't appeal to the American christian.

Bell makes early reference to the change in civilization from Hunter/Gatherer to farmer to industrial worker, to service worker. This is a particular point of fascination with me because I often wonder, what is after post-industrial stage? Is there another level, or will be forced to revert back to Hunter/Gatherer? Bell talks about the change that was made in the case of Adam and then Cain and Abel. They made the first transitions.

"Jesus provided a way that made the world better through sacrificial love and not coercive violence." That is the reason for the success of Christianity for so long in my opinion. Despite the crusades and abuses, love of Christ transcends convention.

"For a growing number of people in our world, it appears that many Christians support some of the very things Jesus came to set people free from."- This quote alone makes me wonder how any person who reads the bible and teachings of Christ could condone death of anyone for any means, whether it be war, corporal punishment, or abortion. All death ends the chance of witness to a person who may be lost. My beliefs have changed 180 degrees since my high school years.

The cries of the oppressed are the books of the Bible. Who are the oppressed today? What would my cry sound like, (change my heart oh God, I can't shake my sinful nature, I am a slave to it, help end this bondage, bring justice)

"Egypt is what happens when sin becomes structured and embedded in society"-You may as well substitute Egypt for America in Bell's description. Rich get richer, power begats power, systems building to keep power centralized to a few.

My question, "Did the Hebrews know the story of Adam and Eve before exile? Was it already part of their tradition? Was it their creation story before they came to Egypt? Was the story perfected when they were in exile or in the wilderness?

"the hebrews were the only faith in human history that has as its central event a god speaking to a group of people all at one time"

The calling on our lives as Christians isn't really a calling at all, it is an invitation. An invitation to show the world who this God is and what this God is like.

In the Hebrews, his chosen people, God chose to form a different kind of nation, a "holy" one shaped not by greed violence and abusive power but by compassion, justice and care for one's neighbor.

In the ancient world man made images of God and worshiped the images. With the Hebrews God made images of himself in man, and people worshiped him through the actions and hearts of men. That is mind blowing. Nothing else comes close to this idea. This truly is proof of intelligent design.

These are just notes from the first 30 pages. I have so many, I could never write them all down.
Rob Bell blows my brain to pieces.

Now to finish Mark Driscoll's Vintage Jesus.

An anniversary of a different sort

2009-03-26T05:04:00.000-07:00

A few days ago, when my father was celebrating his 52nd birthday, I was celebrating an anniversary of a different sort.

It was on March 23, 1986 that I asked Christ to come into my heart.

I was really young, I mean really young, but I knew I was bad. I also knew that without his help I would go to hell. Even at the age of four this reality was hard for me to take, and wanted to do something about it.

It is one of my earliest memories, but I remember sitting on my bed in my room, looking out the window listening to a Steve Green album of all things and praying that Jesus would come into my heart.

From that point on I called myself a Christian, and by the grace of God I had parents that supported me, encouraged me to study and attend church. I am very thankful for all those supports because without them I have no idea where I'd be.

Passion of the Christ, the second time around.

2009-03-18T20:26:00.000-07:00

Flipping through the channels this evening, I came across Showtime's airing of The Passion of the Christ.

As I sat, I debated whether or not I should watch it. I remember going to the theater to see it years ago, 2005 I believe, and was horrified, shocked, and sickened at the brutality. It was too much to stomach for me then. I worried that if I watched it again I couldn't get past the brutality. It stirred up in me such anger and questioning then, I remembered wanting to go home and not really medidate on it.

Years later, having now felt and experienced the love of Christ in such amazing ways, after viewing the Passion of the Christ, all I could see was

LOVE

The John Mark Macmillian song rolled through my head as the movie showed Christ praying for his executioners, forgiving the ones nailing him to his cross, and ignoring the taunts of the Pharisees. The lyrics, "Oh, how he loves us so. How he loves us, how he loves us so." is a perfect description of Christ's indescribable gift.

We have no other description, but so fall on our knees and cry, How he loves us so. OH how he loves us. How he loves us so.

Prophet, Priest, and King

2009-03-12T19:27:00.000-07:00

I have been working my way through the Mark Driscoll book Vintage Jesus, and in the recent chapter he speaks about Christ appearing as a prophet, priest, and king in our lives.

Mark gives specific examples of how God has appeared in each role at times in his life, and this inspired me to examine my life when God has served all three functions for me.

According to Driscoll, God is a prophet who speaks truth to our lives, a priest who walks with us, and a king who rules over us.
These are my examples:

The Prophet-
One year in college on a spring trip, my friends and I ventured out for a night. As the night progressed, I began to feel this overwhelming feeling that I shouldn't be there. I couldn't escape the fact that my entire life I had held such a strong stance on drinking and carrying on, and in this moment I was about to embark on an evening where I would proceed to defy all the my soul desired not to do. It was at this moment that I bent to my own feelings inside, and told my friends I wasn't feeling well, and I went back and sat in the car.

For the next 3 or four hours I sat in the car, wondering why I was feeling such guilt. I decided that I needed some kind of therapy to combat some kind of social anxiety I was feeling, and treatment to see exactly why I wouldn't let myself have any fun.

It wasn't until years later that I realized that God had spared me from something that night. I have no idea what happened, and to my knowledge nothing major happened between my friends who went out. All I know is that nothing happened to me, and there isn't a moment that I regret from that trip. Had I not listened to my heart, God being a prophet in my soul, Lord knows what could have happened.

The Priest-
For a long long time I felt extreme guilt over sin. To my heart God felt distant and harsh, like an angry father who looked down on me with disgust at my actions. There never really was a personal relationship with Christ, so much of my opinions of God existed in this Old Testament feeling of an angry God looking down to smite me at any moment.

It wasn't until I came back from the Passion conference in 2005 that I began to feel God work in me as a priest. Much in the same way we see our pastors as a shepherd who guides the sheep, God began to work in my heart, and revealed in me through scripture just how his plan works and how I can let go of my guilt and go forward in grace.

This process took years, and is still going on today, but as of now I feel the love of God in ways I didn't think were possible. There are times when my heart still gets cold, and I lack compassion. However, unlike before, there are times when my heart is full with joy and love, and I can honestly step forward and say that I love Jesus, and am thankful for him in my life and the gift he gave me and the grace he extends me. As a priest, there is none better.

The King-
This never was a hard one for me, I have always seen God as a king ruling over all. Unfortunately, I depicted him more as a dictator and a supreme being who imposed his will over all. It wasn't until my eyes and ears were opened to the teachings of John Piper, Francis Chan, and Andy Stanley that I began to recognize the supremacy of Christ in all things, and began to see God as a king I am grateful and lucky to serve.

Unlike the harsh dictators, service was done out of respect and fear. Service to the king of kings is done out of love for him, and because it is truly the best thing for us. I am learning this everyday, and am finding ways to bask in this service, and love it.

In song I am learning that singing to my king is a joy, that sweating in service for him is rewarding, and having fear and respect for him is a good thing too. As Americans were are built not to like kingship. We are built to love our independence. This clouded all of my thoughts about God for so long. Now I see that being a subject of a Just, All-Knowing king is like living in the greatest most powerful empire in the world. We truly have power at our fingertips, and we have the joy of giving him all the glory. This makes me anxious for heaven.

These are my examples of God as a prophet, priest, and king in my life. What are yours?

Is Suffering Optional?

2009-03-04T06:26:00.000-08:00

Quite a question for any Christian to meditate upon.

Is suffering optional?

The whole concept of suffering is lost on me, and to be honest, I am hopeful it stays that way.

Unfortunately, as Francis pointed out in his sermon, suffering isn't something we should fear, it is something we should strive to be acquainted with.

He makes slight jabs at the preachers who espouse prosperity gospel, or any teacher who thinks that a happy safe comfortable life is something Christians should strive for.

Saying, "we will even take obscure old testament verses about genealogy (1 Chronicles 10), and listen to words in a prayer about Jabez, how he prayed for land, and we will say...see God wants me to have more land!", Francis points out how misguided we have become about our faith and purpose.

I have said it numerous times, and will as long as I live, the Church does not exist for the nonbeliever, it exists as a place for solace for weary saints who are tired from preaching and living the gospel all week. If a non believer comes in and sees the love and humility that exists in a church and gets saved, then so be it. But church isn't for the non-believer, it is for the weary saint.

Unfortunately, the concept of weary-saint is lost on most christians, including myself.

I don't even remember the last time I was "weary" for his name's sake.

That to me is sickening.

Upon hearing this sermon, I thought, man I really need to do something for him.....I mean really do something. But alas, my laziness won and as of today I have done nothing.

My desire for comfort and peace has completely diluted my belief in a missional life, and sadly it will take many more sermons like the one Francis gave Sunday to turn that around.

Using evidence of suffering from EVERY SINGLE BOOK IN THE NEW TESTAMENT, by God's will, Francis showed us all that a life of comfort and solitude is not what Christ had in mind when he gave us favor.

"Isn't there this ONE VERSE, about an ant who stores up food in a storehouse...isn't there something about us helping ourselves.....that one verse?"

Sure, there is that one verse, but here's some food for thought

-Matthew 10:34-36

“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36 And a person's enemies will be those of his own household.

-Mark 8:34-36

34 And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. 36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?

-Luke 6:22

22 “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man!

-John 15:18-20

18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.

-Acts 5:40-41

40 and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. 41 Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.

-Romans 8:16-18

16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

He keeps going unfortunately, and with every passage, pours conviction over me and my love of thick arm chairs, DirecTV, and takeout.

I don't want to give that comfort up, but I know I need to, I don't even want to ask God to help me deny myself because I want these things so badly. This quandary in my soul reminds me of just how selfish and wretched I truly am.

I wish Francis' sermon wasn't exactly what my heart needed, but I think it was.

What I gave up for lent

2009-02-27T13:09:00.001-08:00

I decided to make some real sacrifices, and made up a list of things that I feel will be sacrificial given my addictions.

I decided to

-give up Soda

-turn off my computer every night by 10 PM (this includes iphone)

-spend 5 minutes a day in silence, meditating on Heaven

So far so good,

the soda thing has already been difficult I admit. Yesterday I had no options other than water. Turns out iced water tastes delicious.

the computer thing, thus far hasn't been a problem

and my five minutes yesterday yielded a post on here

so far so good, it has only been 2 days

Fits of His Holiness

2009-02-27T05:37:00.000-08:00

One time when I was on a trip to Cincinnati with the Misels, we were driving around one saturday night and Hudson, their little boy (only 3 at the time), began bawling his eyes out in the back seat. Ashley began pleading with Hudson asking him what was wrong. Hudson with his eyes swollen and tears running down his face responded, "I was bad and now I can't go to heaven."

We as adults got a chuckle out of his spontaneous fit, and after calming him down we explained to him how Jesus came to save us from our sins. It is funny now to think about it, because seeing such a small child come to grips with his sin was funny to see.

Unfortunately as adults we seem to make light of our sin, unfortunately, just like Hudson had his meltdown on I-275, yesterday I was having one of my own.

For some reason, on my way home from our class ski trip I was overwhelmed with the holiness of God. In preparation for the David Crowder Band concert tonight, I listened to quite a bit of his tuneage. Somewhere between, You're Everything, Wholly Yours, and The Glory of it All, my emotions took ahold of me as I pondered the massiveness, awesomeness, and holiness of God.

Francis Chan preached recently about the day John entered heaven, and how Christ was seated next to God, and his light shined too bright to even look at him directly. How his trane filled the room, and how all the angels sing Glory to God in the Highest in a round.

It helps to have visions like that painted for you because, here on earth we have a tendency to get real focused on the things around us. Unfortunately, these things are temperal and will be gone in a second. It is after this realization that I become filled with emotion as I listen to words about how we exist only for "the glory of it all" and how "his grandness in me makes me clean". The enormity of God and his purpose for our lives while on this earth breaks my will, and helps me to refocus at times when I get too caught up in my life.

I am thankful for moments like that. It helps me remember that the sprit abides within me.
At times when I feel far from God, and that my life now isn't where I wish it was in relation to my following Christ, I can medidate on his holiness, and it breaks my heart, bringing me that much closer to him even if only for a few minutes.

What to give up for lent?

2009-02-24T20:54:00.000-08:00

Didn't think much about this, didn't realize today was even Fat Tuesday.

I am not real sure what I am truly going to sacrifice for the Lord.
I know it should be eating out, but I struggle so mightily with it, I fear I would fail almost immediately.

I am getting the feeling I need to unplug my electronics before 10 pm every night.
Is that really sacrifice though.

The term sacrifice indicates something significant, something painful, something you strive for.
Giving up my computer after 10 pm hardly sounds sacrificial.

So what should I give up?
I am not sure.
My will power is so bad, that I can't even think of a reachable goal.
Whatever I decide, I only have three minutes left.
Maybe when I wake up tomorrow, I will have conviction about something.
We shall see.

Matthew 3-The Thunder in the Desert

2009-02-17T20:28:00.000-08:00

"The Thunder from the desert"
I always liked that nickname. It reminded me of one of my favorite biblical persons
John the Baptist

Every time I hear the name John the Baptist, it makes me think of that Charlie Hall song,
Prepare the way.

John the baptist was put on this earth for one reason,
to prepare the way of the lord.

How great a calling is that?
I am envious of such a charge, it really is quite an honor. Right up there with Mother Mary.
As I get a bit jealous them having such a blessed distinction and getting the pleasure of feeling so used by God, I catch myself and have to stop and be mindful of the fact that

THE GREAT COMMISSION CALLS US ALL TO PREPARE THE WAY OF THE LORD

With the gift of the Holy Spirit, God gave us all the pleasure of being able to prepare the way for his return. Why do I always seem to neglect this honor? How can I make this more real to me, how can I truly see what an honor this is, not a duty, but an honor to represent the king of kings, the one who saved me, and saved humanity.

When I am truly missing how great it is to be a part of God's anointed, it is usually because I am spending so much time thinking of myself. I get very insular.
It is amazing how much more we see our role in God's plan when we pour ourselves out in his name. Service truly does free the soul, and open blind eyes. Lately I have been very blind.
It is my hope that I will be given opportunity to serve, will take the initiative, and in doing so God will open my eyes again, so I can see just how great it is to be just like the admired John the Baptist, crying out from the desert, preparing the way of the Lord.

**side note, Charlie Hall's new album the Bright Sadness is great. I really like the song A New Year and Hookers and Robbers. They are worth the buy. Here's a short vid of Charlie playing the latter song**

Worth 5 minutes of your time

2009-02-06T21:52:00.000-08:00

A story you will no doubt be hearing in the coming weeks.
Patrick Thibodeau, a student at Greely High in Maine. He has downs syndrome, and recently played in his first varsity basketball game, where he scored six points, hitting two three pointers, the final one just before the final buzzer.

If you can watch this video without cheering for Patrick, you need to find a heart.

Rescued and not even knowing it

2009-02-06T10:05:00.001-08:00

Rescue is a powerful word.

When I think of the word rescue I see someone floating in a raft, amidst an ocean of waves cascading down and punishing them. I see the person desperately clinging to the raft, eyes held tight, drenched, tired, praying hoping for something someone to come and pull them out of their despair.

Then in my imagination riddled with cinematic irony, a Coast Guard helicopter rips through the clouds, hovers above the raft, and a man begins to slowly lower himself down out of the chopper. Sacrificing his own life, risking certain death, he pushes on and inches closer to the raft. Then in the most amazing of scenes the coast guard diver stretches out his arm and pulls the stranded person to safety.

That to me is RESCUE

I struggle with the idea of a spiritual rescue. I have heard so many songs talking about Jesus rescuing them, or coming to your rescue, etc. The thing I have trouble with is thinking I am in need of rescue. Inside, I don't feel as if I am in need of it. I have convinced myself that I have everything under control.

It doesn't once occur to me that I am a lonely speck on a huge chunk of rock, hurdling through an infinite space at probably 850 mph (given my middle latitude here in NC, over 1000 at the Equator). I have somehow neglected the fact my life is but a short glimmer in God's eyes. I have made my life and my comprehension of the world much bigger than it is. In a word, I think my ability to control things is independent of God.

I don't understand the reality of a rescue because I have never once felt I am in need of it. My life thus far has been devoid of serious intervention and an emotional rescue. Even in my times of trouble I have convinced myself that I have been able to handle it because of my ability to think logically. Quite the oxymoron.

I fear that I may never really know or value the Rescue Jesus gave me until something tragic happens. I fear that I won't know rescue until I am in heaven and can see and hear the wailing and writhing in hell. Even then, will it be too late.

How can I really feel rescued when I am so ignorant to think I don't need it.
My only prayer is that God will be gracious and can break me of my pride and help me learn.
I know he died to rescue me from the fears I have now about learning the lesson, and the pain I may have to go through to truly feel rescued.

Lord help me see the fact you rescued me, and to see just how truly awful my life is and is in need of your rescue.

Who will lead this church?

2009-01-25T20:02:00.000-08:00

You hate to use the word "crisis" regarding anything.

In these post 9/11 days, we find that persons and news networks are quick to use such a word to describe the latest events. In trying to decipher what is real and what is just a ploy to get me to stay on FoxNews, we have become numb to what a crisis truly is.

In his book UnChristian, David Kinnaman speaks of the not-so recent trend of twenty-somethings to leave their faith during these formative years. Citing research by the Barna group, Kinnaman provided sobering numbers that illustrated the depth of the problem in our nation's churches. Coupled with the findings in a USAToday study from August of 2007 reinforcing the problem, church leaders have shifted from recognizing the issue of twenty-somethings flight from church as simply a "problem" but to a "crisis".

Ironically, while much of their efforts have been focused on trying to rectify the problem, another, more disturbing trend has arisen within their own ranks. Above that of the disappearance of twenty-somethings from the ranks of attendees on Sunday morning, the church hierarchy is beginning to recognize their need to prevent the departure of some of their most ardent of supporters.

In recent years we have witnessed staggering numbers of twenty-something church "leaders" vacate their positions at established churches in favor of forming independent house churches, more lucrative secular professions, and global outreach organizations. While research regarding this trend is in its infancy, upon interviews with the departing, we find their sources of frustration and reasons for leaving are profoundly similar.

***I will finish this article one day, not sure when but sometime.******

This is Our God

2009-01-24T19:52:00.000-08:00

A song that I really like, an oldie but a good one. Try it on again if you have time.
I like the version with Crowder and Tomlin on the Live in Austin CD

This is our God~Chris Tomlin

A refuge for the poor, a shelter from the storm
This is our God

He will wipe away your tears
and return your wasted years
This is our God

A father to the orphan, a healer to the broken
This is our God

And he brings peace to our madness
and comfort in our sadness
This is our God

this is our God
this is the one we have waited for
Oh... this is our God

A fountain for the thirsty,
a lover for the lonely
This is our God
He brings glory to the humble
and crowns for the faithful
This is our God
******************************

I really identify with that last verse. Over the past few weeks I have definitely been "thirsty" and most certainly lonely. This has song has helped tremendously. It definitely gives some hope.

I wish I could find a youtube of the Live version, but alas I cannot.
Here is a local church band playing the song. I think they do a great job.

Memory Dump #1

2009-01-24T19:06:00.000-08:00

I have been removed from this blog for quite some time, and I made an attempt to start doing it again, but I never made it a priority.

I am not sure how much of a priority this will be now, but I do want to do more blogging.

I haven't neglected my Bible study over the last few months. Quite the contrary I have ready nearly all of the New Testament in the last couple months. I finished the book of James last week, and had some great notes. It is my hope that in the next few weeks I will transfer some of those rumblings onto this site. I am not sure who still reads, if anyone, but I am happy to cast these thoughts into the web so that somehow, this will serve as a legacy. Should I die tomorrow, I want others to know that I loved Jesus, love the Bible, and wrestled with his word everyday in some form or fashion.

So here goes........

A couple nights ago I finished up James chapter 5, and not knowing how many chapters there are in James I sat down to do chapter 6. When I saw there was no James 6, I decided to sit down and go over my notes from the last few months. I find it refreshing to look over all of your thoughts and the scriptures you read and see where you were when you read it, and how the study has been utilized in your life since.

My life map is truly amazing and very specific.

I can target to the day when the Lord started working in my heart and since that I day I have seen how the Lord prepared me to do his work. Whether it was serving on building committees, being an ear to clergy who needed an outside perspective, or helping someone pick up the pieces of their fractured life. I have delighted in being diligent to God's will for my life, and the joys I received from those moments are so great that they have altered my view of the world around me.

It is with this new view that I have made dramatic changes to my life.

In the past six months I have moved twice, each time further away from the family I love, the church I made a home, the friends who were so important to me, and the woman I thought was made for me. This process has been very difficult to go through.

Battling fits of loneliness, feelings of anger and resentment towards God for the changes, and emotionally deep days where I feel on an island spiritually and emotionally, I have traveled the roller coaster that would sees me close to Jesus and far away. Were it not for my study and the spiritual history I have penned to paper, my distance from God could have been even greater.

With joy I begin penning my history to this site again. Thankful for the habit I made my study, I am hopeful that this period in my life will see an even greater increase in study and implementation of the book I value so much.

********************************************************
Here is the prayer I wrote in my last sermon and bible study notebook
This book began on June 27, 2008 and I remember listening to a John Piper sermon on imprecatory Psalms ironically enough when I penned this prayer to my book. It was a prayer that the contents written down in the book would bring me closer to him.

Father,
Lord,
God,
Jesus,

Bless this document that the words written in it will be done so out of respect for your word and in hope for its fulfillment. As a token of gratitude I commit my mind, heart, and soul to the study of your that I might walk rightly in your signt and would be equipped to spread the hope of God and Salvation in Jesus until your return. Yours is a study for all men. I love to learn it and share it.

Your son and servant,

Andy Kuhn

Hebrews 9

2008-12-16T10:14:00.000-08:00

"How much more the blood of Christ atones than that of sheep"

Hebrews is growing on me. It is a book that for so long I ignored, but am now growing to appreciate. It is definitely necessary and definitely a must read, as it is a systematic approach to showing how the covenant of Moses is now gone, with Christ's gift to us.

I will start posting more in the coming weeks as I now will fill the void with my thoughts, hoping someone will respond.

Something Amazing is Happening

2008-09-11T11:23:00.001-07:00

If feel the presence of the Lord all over me today.

Can't really explain it. All I can say is that in reading Proverbs 11, and Philippians 4 so much of the scripture came alive today. My notations were off the charts, God began to circulate ideas, and thoughts in me and a burden for service was laid heavy on my heart.

I am beginning to feel as if he is again preparing me to do something meaningful in his name.

I can feel that something great is being done around me, great opportunity to serve is going to be given I can feel it. Not sure what it is, or where I should go, or even if it is me he is calling to serve, but I feel something great is on the horizon. I must continue to study and meditate on Christ so I don't miss out on the blessing.

Lord help me to find your will, help me to go as you direct, show me a life that I can shine your light into.

These are the times when you can try to illustrate your faith to a non-believer and they get very quizzical. Only someone who has felt the righteousness of Christ and felt his salvation, can identify with these statements.

Say a prayer for those in India tonight

2008-09-10T21:00:00.001-07:00

Attacks on nuns, churches and Christian refugees across India are stoking
fears that Hindu extremists are planning to target minority communities as
the country prepares for a general election.

The worst anti-Christian violence in India since independence 60 years ago
came in Kandhamal district, in the state of Orissa, in recent weeks. Hindu
fanatics attempted to poison water sources at relief camps holding at least
15,000 people displaced by mob violence, local activists alleged. Hundreds
of Christian refugees in the region were told not to return to their homes
unless they converted to Hinduism.

Christians in India face prospect of more attacks by extremists - Times Online

We are lucky to live in America, and both doomed

2008-09-10T20:49:00.001-07:00

When you hear stories of people across the world being persecuted for their faith, we all seem to breathe a collective sigh of relief.

Whew. My heart goes out to those people. Thank God I live in a place where my faith is accepted and I am free to practice.

While those thoughts also cross my mind, a small part of me (not near big enough) pricks my heart and brings about differing feelings.

I am reminded of the fact that for those who suffer on this earth for the name of Jesus, and proclaim his name here, so Jesus will remember their name in paradise.

Do the cries to God in the midst of peril and tribulation matter more than my cries to him from my air conditioned, technologically wired, home?

YES!

We are very lucky to live here in this country, a place where we can serve the lord without reprisal. Where we can gather together on Sunday mornings and sing praises to him. We are lucky, but misguided.

We can sing these songs to him; "I will praise you in this storm", "My deliverer", "On Christ the Solid Rock I stand", yet these words seem hollow when you think of the torment at which many people sing these songs.

Can you imagine the delight to the ears of Christ when he hears the song "My GOD IS MIGHTY TO SAVE" from the mouth of a christian in India who is being burned at the stake? Paul tells us that the road to LIFE is narrow, and it is a fight. Many of us, even those in the church, are on different roads none leading to salvation. We claim to have the life worth living, we think that our life lived for Christ is one of merit. Paul had it right, pastors in India have it right, the hundreds of martyrs have it right. A life lived for Christ in the face of a world who rejects him and will not conform is a life worth living.

We must be careful, because we here in the United States are toeing a fine line. If we truly were living a life for Christ, would we be so comfortable?

Lord I fear what we have becoming here, this isn't what you died to redeem. You didn't die so I can have more stuff, or to feel better about myself. You died to save me so I could serve others at the complete destruction of my own life and esteem.

Sorry for the diatribe, but hearing and reading stories of others suffering for his name makes me thankful and scared. There will come a time when I will be asked to profess his name at the sake of my comfort. Will I know when that is? Will I have the strength? Lord I want so much to do that, to profess you above all. Help me to see those moments and rip from me my need/desire for comfort. Your design is greater than my greatest dream. You know far better what is best for me. Help me to find you, help me to want you and want that live. Help me to be a lover of your will, and a hater of my self and my wants. Cover your saints in India, give them strength and embrace them with the arms that made the universe and invented LOVE. Bring them home quickly and let their legacy impact those of us who are comfortable.

Denial, Acceptance, and this thing we call Grace

2008-08-21T20:54:00.000-07:00

You ever have those days where sins you know you confessed, and have been forgiven of come back and haunt you?

Tonight was such a night for me.

There are many things in my life I regret doing, and some of which continue to haunt me to this day. On a night when I read Ephesians 5, I struggle with some of my slip ups in previous relationships.

As I read words from Paul that say, "those who commit sins of immorality are not given inheritance", I fight to assure myself that God will not completely deny me when my time comes.
Somehow I think that all the things I have done on earth will for his name will somehow outweigh all the crap I have done to sully it. Not sure what makes me think I can even get close, or what makes me think there is even a balance. It is all a lost battle.

I realize a bit more everyday, that one sin is a disqualifying offense and is punishable by eternal death in hell. Without unmeasurable grace from God through his gift of Christ, we would all be destined for hell.

In sensing this, it causes me to retread old sins. I think of the sins I have committed and continue to repent knowing that I am forgiven, but want God to know I am truly sorry for them, and am always in need of forgiveness.

When Jesus said, "go and sin no more" he meant to sin that sin no more, and do your best to live a life as he instructed.

We are all failures, and our struggles are not new. As I sit and worry about my eternal inheritance, I need to be very mindful of the fact that I should have no inheritance, and that an eternal life lived glorifying the name of Christ is a greater reward than any man deserves. It makes me anxiously await heaven, where we can sit in his glory and praise him with all of our being. I long for a day when an invisible scale in my head goes away, when the guilt of sin is gone, when freedom is not just hoped for, but felt. That day approaches quickly and while my earthy body labors to find comfort in this world, I hear God saying to me, comfort is not found in this world Andy, it is found in me. Seek me, and all these things will be given to you. Lay your burdens and cares at my feet, go and sin no more, and live the life I promised you when I wrote your name in my book in March of 1986.

My Struggle

2008-08-19T08:58:00.000-07:00

Ephesians 4:29-Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

While certainly not someone who is given to corrupting talk (at least I hope not) I am verrrrrrry guilty of talk that does not build someone up.

This has been a curse to me, and is proof of the ugliness that resides in my heart.
No matter what kind of window dressing I could put up, my mouth seems to always fill the air with vitriol and gives persons a glimpse into just how broken and vulnerable I am.

For so long I have prayed that God would help me gain control of my mouth, often citing this very verse. Today however, I have a new lease on this principle, and it comes from the very end of the selection

"that it may give grace to those who hear"

How can I seek to keep my words positive and to be uplifiting and humble before God and man?
The remedy I feel is to continue to extol grace as God gives it to me.
This isn't a novel concept, it is one God laid before us countless times. It just hit me today that my efforts are wasted because my mind is simply set on preventing foul speech, not on changing my heart to the point it consistently gives grace.

It says in Ephesians 4 that as we embrace the body of the church we are transformed in love, so our hearts are given to grace and humility. I have seen evidence of this in my life in the past year, but I have definitely lost scores of battles with my inner darkness.

It is clear to me that in order to control my tongue, I must focus daily on God's word. I must study and learn and be still and quiet. When my thoughts are focused on Christ, I am more easily moved by the brokenness of the world and in turn more compelled to show grace. Just as God designed, my speech changes. The inflection of my voice changes, people's reactions to my words change, and the bridges that I burned over and over again begin to be reconstructed.

My prayer:
Lord, as I have tried so many times in vain to control the words coming from my mouth, I pray today that you would help me to see the wickedness that lies within my heart, and continue to transform me to your image as I seek you. Help me to bear good fruit, where for years I have given poison. You know the sinful deceit of my heart, and I want so badly for it to be renewed by you. I want to be of your service, and want so much to be used in great ways for you. Help me to find you in every thought, and to proof my words with your words so that all I say is of benefit to you and your kingdom.

Love This Song, Love Hillsong, Love this God

2008-08-14T22:56:00.000-07:00

Hillsong-This Is Our God

Your grace is enough
More than I need
At Your word I will believe
I wait for You
Draw near again
Let Your Spirit make me new

I will fall at Your feet
I will fall at Your feet
And I will worship You here

Your presence in me
Jesus light the way
By the power of Your word
I am restored
I am redeemed
By Your Spirit I am free

Freely You gave it all for us
Surrendered Your life upon that cross
Great is the love
Poured out for all
This is our God
Lifted on high from death to life
Forever our God is glorified
Servant and King
Rescued the world
This is our God

New Bible Study

2008-08-11T12:05:00.000-07:00

Beginning to read Proverbs and Ecclesiastes in unison.

Figured that since Solomon was the wisest man who ever lived I could glean a little of his wisdom.

Was today an interesting parallel.

Proverbs 1:7
The fear of the lord is the beginning of knowledge, only fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Ecclesiastes 1:17-18
And I applied my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is but a striving after wind.For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.

Essentially the wisest man who ever lived tells us in his book of proverbs that instruction from our mothers and fathers is like garlands for our head and pendants for our neck, but later tells us at the end of his life that the pursuit of knowledge is folly and akin to trying to catch the wind.

Such an interesting study. It makes me wonder how vain my pursuits at knowledge truly are, and causes me to wonder if I am missing it completely, it being true knowledge.

Solomon tells of the wisdom that can be attained by seeing the aged things of the world. Asking our parents and grandparents, seeing the processes of the earth. These are all things we learn from. We sense our own mortality, we become more temperate, we resolve to find harmony. We see these from the creation that surrounds us. Much can be observed from reminding yourself how old the earth is, and how its inhabitants fade away, yet the movement of the seasons the flow of a river, these things have endured since creation.

What can I learn today from the world God created for me to enjoy? My remnants will not endure, but the earth endures. What can I learn from that?

Of one Heart and One Soul

2008-07-30T12:31:00.000-07:00

Acts 4:32 Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. 33 And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.

Daily we petition the lord to give us provision, to accommodate for our needs and wants (well at least I do). I am constantly asking for something, but I see here in Acts the Lord is more concerned with us giving, and letting our fellow believers meet our needs. Case in point....the disciples post resurrection.

Peter and John were beginning the first series of famous sermons and proclaiming the name of Christ to all they saw. When in Jerusalem, Peter and John healed in the name of Christ and to them much power was given. We see in Acts that the Saducees were again enraged at their message. Bringing together the family of high priests, Annas, Caiphas, John, and Alexander (the same Annas and Caiphas that condemned Christ), the group sought to punish Peter and John.

Thankfully their witness was so powerful that the 5,000 believed on that day confirmed their accounts and they could not be judged. When they were released the 5,000 all joined in praising God for what he had done.

Peter and John were charged even more in the spirit, and prayed for boldness for all who believe that they may speak of Jesus with ferocity. In doing so, the testimonies were given and many gave all they had and laid it at the disciples feet.

What can we learn from this?

The provision that was given to the disciples in the early days was given in the name of God, by the people who had heard the message. Peter and John prayed for boldness to proclaim his name, and the blessing were given unto them. Maybe we should pray for boldness, and go and proclaim with ferocity, and then see how God meets our needs?

That is my goal for today, proclaim the word of God to any who will hear and hope that God's blessings fall on me, all the while expecting nothing.

Think Smart, Think Smaller

2008-07-28T09:45:00.000-07:00

2008-07-27T22:09:00.000-07:00

Ok, so assume Mitchell is telling the truth, and we are in-fact not alone in the universe, does this change your feelings about God, who he is, what he does, and the life of Christ?

Is your belief in God like a wall comprised of hundreds of bricks, all supporting your belief?
Could a large brick crumbling cause your wall to fall down?

Great Deal on upcoming releases from Passion

2008-07-27T09:23:00.001-07:00

<:: 268 BLOG ::>

Anyone who is familiar with the Passion label needs to jump on this offer.
I can't wait to hear Tomlin's new album, as well as see highlights from Crowder's tour.

Funny Picture

2008-07-26T16:54:00.001-07:00

Tony Jones book reviewed by Out of Ur

2008-07-18T09:29:00.001-07:00

"The New Christians gave a true and honest depiction of the

emergent church movement. That’s not to say it was an attractive
picture. I felt Jones presented himself and the movement as
condescending, contradictory, and closed.

Jones’s lava metaphor scored especially high on the pomposity meter.
Evidently the emergent movement is red-hot gospel lava bursting forth
from the confines of crusty old –isms: individualism, consumerism,
institutionalism, Presbyterianism, Catholicism, and Methodism.(37) I
read the pages surrounding the metaphor four times looking for
something that would rescue it from being a condescending thumb in the
eye of anyone who is not emergent. I’m still looking."

"I also thought The New Christians revealed some deep contradictions in the movement. Jones emphasized that emergents are open and humble and driven to explore because they know they really don’t know and they might be wrong. That’s a nice epistemology, but it didn’t play out in Jones’s interaction with non-emergent thinkers. He never seriously considered that maybe non-emergents are legit in any significant way. What if Jones misunderstands or is misinterpreting the critics, the –isms, the bureaucrats, the left, the right, or the foundationalists?"

The full book review

This is essentially the same thing my dad said after he read Tony Jones' book. The word pomposity didn't come out, but he definitely felt as if the book was condescending. He mentioned that Jones was trying too hard to articulate a point surrounding a new spin on Christianity.

It seems the more we read about the Emerging Church, the more we find that it is simply a word used to classfiy people who love to articulate their differences in belief and practice, inspite of the fact their ideas aren't really that novel.

The role of the local church when it comes to mass-evangelism

2008-07-17T20:47:00.000-07:00

I must first preface all I say with my definition of mass-evangelism.
My definition of this would be; the preaching of the message in open-air meetings or in very large gatherings outside of a church or without the organization of a local church.

That being said, here is a story.

Last Saturday while I was playing my baseball game at City Park in Parkersburg I was caught off guard by the commotion taking place on the park green. Evidently it was a youth gathering of some sort with music and games and speakers, and more importantly, the gathering of the G-Force Strength Unit.

Similar to that of the Power Team, and other feats of strength teams, the G Force was up there doing feats of strength and all that, as well as the all important alter call. Granted I couldn't see what was going on, simply hear, however I did manage to catch some of the members talking about the decisions made for Christ that day.

My mind wandering aimlessly in left field, I kept uttering the phrase, "Now What?"

On the cusp of something amazing, the skeptic in me was wondering what was next for the persons who just made the decision. I immediately became fearful for their next few days, sad that there may be no one there to offer them a church to go to or a place to feel welcome, and angry that if they didn't get a follow-up this time, they may forever cast Jesus aside and say "been there done that".

These thoughts returned to me today in my bible study as I came across this passage from Peter's sermon at Pentecost.

Acts 2:41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
Acts 2:42 ¶ And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

Peter's sermon was the first mass-evangelism post resurrection, and is one of the few mentioned in the Bible. In addition to having the number of those who were saved that day (3,000) we are given a follow-up of the days and weeks following this important sermon. In studying this, my mind went right back to the G-Force and their "victories for Christ" last Saturday.

It made me wonder:
Where are those kids today?
Has anyone called them to talk to them?
Are there any G-Force members there today to help provide them with support?

This I fear, is the problem with mass evangelism here in America.

While certainly very popular globally mass-evangelism has become somewhat of a numbers exercise here in the states. As opposed to being done in small-villages where attendees spend much of their time together on a daily basis, events like the one last saturday are done in large open places where there is little or no communication between attendees after said event. (Granted the G-Force and Power Team do quite a few church displays, there are many times when they do events such as the one Saturday where so many are witnessed to it is nearly impossible to keep eyes on their fate.) The mass-evangelistic convert in say India would have a greater opportunity as there, the chance they would plug into a church is remote enough to warrant an individual follow-up by a preacher or church member. In the states, I fear that with a new convert the task of finding a church is often left up to the convert themself.

While the hypothesis of why this may be and how we came to this are many, we can't dwell on those but only on how to remedy the situation. How can we fulfill the commandments Christ left us, and follow-up on what Peter instructed that day?

This is where I feel the local church can be very valuable.

Event organizers, the Liberty Street Church of God, undoubtedly got the information from the day and hopefully followed up in some form or fashion after the G-Force presentation. I know that with the Power Team there have been instances where many have fallen through the cracks, and any decision made for Christ was quickly forgotten. I hope that Liberty Street took Christ's and Peter' commands to heart and relayed this message to those who accepted Christ last Saturday.

As Peter instructed, those who were saved should:
1. Go and be baptized in order to receive the holy spirit
2. devote themselves to the teachings of Christ

I love the local church because in moments where a person accepts Christ they find an immediate support group and bond of believers with whom they can share life with. It is my hope that last Saturday those who came forward, immediately found that in Liberty Street.

It says in Acts shortly after verse 42 that those who believed were;

v. 46- day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes,

This is the key to making good followers of Christ and having a real and authentic relationship with Jesus. We must not let them fall through the cracks. God has entrusted us all to share our burdens with others, and to pick up the burdens of those who are too weak to carry. In the times of mass evangelism, we see many who are beaten down and are in need of a savior. They come to Jesus for help, and he offers it, and expects us to be his hands and feet, picking them up and helping them in their new walk. I hope the members of Liberty Street church took this to heart, and I pray that those who made decisions last Saturday are basking the delight of Christ's will for their lives a week later.

Let us be always mindful of the new convert and let us not forsake our call to help them be greater pursuers of Christ and his glory.

Update:
here's a video of the Power Team in action.
the emcee is our former Administrative Pastor at FBCW Jon Caldwell

Signs of the Apocolypse

2008-07-07T12:54:00.001-07:00

This is the front page of CNN.com from a couple weeks back.

How ridiculous has the mainstream media become?
What does this say about us as viewers of print and electronic media?

It seems our priorities are all wrong.

Worth Reading

2008-07-02T06:56:00.000-07:00

I am sure many of you know by now, but I am a google reader-aholic. I read it probably fifteen times a day, just reading the latest subscriptions.

For those of you who don't know, it is an RSS reader. For those who don't know what an RSS feed is, well I simply don't have time to bring you into this century.

Anyway, Here is a snap shot of the religion articles I read.

Here's a little info on each
blog.worship.com- a smattering of videos, articles, and how to's for the worship community. I like to read it because, quite frankly it keeps me updated on what the passion music movement is doing.

mars hill bible church-a subscription to the audio podcasts from Rob Bell at Mars Hill in Grand Rapids michigan. For those who don't know who Rob Bell is, you are missing out, he is one of the transcendent teachers of scripture for our generation. If more people heard Rob I know they would have a better idea for the heart of Christ.

out of ur-blog.christianity.today a nice collection of relevant articles and insight from today's christian leaders. Some of the best pieces on the ministry I have read, have come from this website. They are the ones who have jumped on Willow Creek, and put the headline Willow Creek Repents out there. Needless to say it has been an interesting read in recent weeks.

ragamuffinsoul.com-the personal site for Carlos Whittaker the worship leader at Buckhead Church in Georgia. It is a spin off of North Point, and Carlos' blog has been a hit machine. He has a cult following of wanna be worship leaders out there, it is a good place to look if you want to get inside the head and heart of the worship movement.

relevant magazine- simply put, the magazine for all you Christ centered Twenty-somethings.

heartofarebel-the personal website of my church's college and career pastor Mike Berry. Lately it is stuff about his family, he and amber just had another baby, so forgive his pandering to family on the site. It is a nice read for anyone looking for a church in the MOV. He teaches at our Saturday night service.

worship city- I got turned onto this guy a few years ago after the Thirsty Conference. He was a worship leader in Shreveport, LA, now he is the youth pastor at a baptist church. He does a good job dissecting music, and also posts some pretty random stuff about being a worship leader. I like his site, and his thoughts. He also just had a baby, and he and his wife did pics when she was pregnant, and did the juno theme. I thought that was clever.

The Line in the Sand-this is my website, yes I subscribe to my own site, but only to see how it looks in feed version. Sadly I think I am the only subscriber to it, but I know more people read. It gets about 25-30 hits per day. Not bad, would love feedback though.

Buckhead Blog-like Mars Hill this is the audio podcast from the church, and more notably pastor Jeff Henderson.

268blog-this is the blog for the Passion movement. It is full of photos from conferences, as well as the musings of Louie Giglio and the worship leaders that make up the movement. Amazing stuff goes on here.

Stuff Christians Like-Ok, if you aren't a believer or church goer this site won't make much sense. If you are, this site is hillarious, because it is very very true, and very funny. Articles like the ones, "Baptizing Tall People", "How to tell if your worship leader is Metro", "the superhero guide to famous pastors" make this a must read.

You Can Know God-This is a new one, it is the blog of the pastor from Oak Leaf Church in Georgia. They have met in a bar, and are currently in a movie theatre. I read it to get an idea of the challenges of a church plant. It seems to be a daily struggle, and I share the struggle vicariously.

~Real~ is the blog of Josh Perry, the pastor at my second home church in Huntington, WV
the church is named Crew Community Church, and it is doing a fantastic job at meeting the needs of students at Marshall, and the community at large. Josh is a great teacher, and has a real heart for the lost. My only gripe is that he doesn't write enough.

I read alot more, but those are the notable ones, the select few of whom I subscribe. I hope you will give them a read, and I hope they get a bump from my links to their post.

Pricing for the new 3G Iphone

2008-07-01T16:25:00.001-07:00

Well here's the rub Iphone owners, this is what you can expect to upgrade to the 3G version.

The weirdest candy bar in the world is..........

2008-07-01T16:15:00.001-07:00

The Green Tea Cream Kit Kat Bar

I kid you not, in terms of sales, this candy bar rivals only Hershey's world wide.

As indicated by the wrapper, it is a big seller in Japan and China.
According to another site, this is a limited but successful seller in the UK

Go figure? I wouldn't mind trying this guy. I love green tea, and like kit kats. Funny that should read the other way around.

Top 10 reasons we all need a Chipotle

2008-06-30T14:12:00.001-07:00

Go to College, Chipotle! « The Outspoken Shopper

The top reasons why all College Towns (even in more rural areas) need Chipotle

I for one need a Chipotle closer than 50 miles away. It has been so long since my last burrito, I am going through withdraw like Ewan McGregor in trainspotting.

Foil Shizzle

Well, this is a total indictment of us here in the U.S.

2008-06-26T23:04:00.001-07:00

and yes, I have heard it, and yes I think it is true.

It is a sad tale but one that should be heard. I know because it is 48 minutes few if any will watch it, but in all honesty, this should be convicting us anyone who claims Christ.

ask yourself
-where is my fruit?
-How do i know if I bear bad fruit or good?
-I don't want to show my works, but proof of my faith. How do I show that I believe?
-Am I walking the narrow path to the narrow gate or a wide path to the narrow gate?
-Do i measure myself against the world, or against the example of Christ?

Paul Washer really went after it, and I am thankful he did.

The New commandment

2008-06-26T21:54:00.001-07:00

I read John chapters 14-16 tonight, and for some reason I started thinking about Westboro Baptist Church in Kansas.

Some of you will know who that is right off the bat, others will have to search. Let me save you the trouble of searching, and save your computer from seeing that filth. Westboro is the one that is constantly picketing soldiers funerals, promotes the idea that "God hates Fags" and that "God hates us all". Suffice it to say, they have generated quite a bit of publicity, and in doing so have damaged the church in ways that may not be capable of repair, and sought to destroy the teachings of Christ and in doing so will be held accountable to him.

Now, how exactly did I get to thinking about Westboro Baptist?

John 15:18-19 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because
you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore
the world hates you."

There is little disagreement about the fact that the world hates Westboro Baptist. For a minute I was thinking, you know, the world doesn't hate me when I proclaim the message of Christ, but they sure hate Westboro. It made me wonder if I am not doing things right?

As I continued to read I came to another verse, and quickly my thoughts were transformed.

John 16:2 "They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when
whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God."

When I read chapter 15 it made me wonder if Westboro was somehow doing right. I couldn't rationalize it, it made no sense. Then I read chapter 16 and it all became clear.

Jesus gave us a new commandment, to love others as I have loved you. This is a calling higher than any we have. We honor God in all we do, and we most glorify his son when we love others as he loved us. Westboro Baptist totally forsakes the concept of love. Their distorted view of "love" claims that they love the people so much they rebuke their actions. The Bible says we are not to judge the world, we are to only provide loving judgment to fellow believers as to hold them accountable in the eyes of God. This is a charge to the body of believers to hold eachother accountable to Christ. Westboro does not use the charge of rebuking to help other believers, they use it to proclaim damnation of the world.

John 16:2 talks about how there is a time when people will kill you thinking they are doing God's will. While not physically killing people, Westboro Baptist is desecrating the saints and the name of Jesus, thinking they are doing the will of God.

As a believer I am shocked at their hate mongering, and weep for their hearts because I know Christ didn't die for us to treat others so poorly. I know that my heart has been hardened at times, and I have treated others poorly, and in recognizing this I see how at times I am just as sick as Westboro. The wounded and weak crawl to the feet of Christ and I have made their journey tougher. Westboro also makes that journey to Jesus' feet difficult. It is my hope that I will not act in ways that deter persons from coming to Christ, and it is my hope that the hearts of the people who attend Westboro will embrace the love Christ has given, and will recognize his commandment for us, to love others as he loved us.

This is the way we are best a version of Christ. This is the most perfect way to glorify the Lord, our savior and keeper.

When I see people from Westboro breaking the witness of Christ, it makes me long for restoration, it makes me hope Jesus will return quickly. I fear things are broken so badly, I want so much for Christ to come and return us unto him.

Putting a Recent Documents folder in Dock

2008-06-25T06:32:00.001-07:00

Mac OsX hints-Recent Documents folder installation

a nice little folder to have, it will keep track of your 10 most recent documents opened.
keeps them in a queue so you don't have to keep going back to the desktop.

I highly recommend this installation.

Nice parody

2008-06-24T16:51:00.000-07:00

John 11:35-A real humdinger of a question

2008-06-23T22:15:00.000-07:00

Shortest verse in the bible,

John 11:35-Jesus wept.

Ok, here's the question; why?
Why did Jesus weep at the sight of Lazarus in the tomb?

Discuss.

My ideal workspace

2008-06-23T19:07:00.001-07:00

Why I love this office.........
Cherry book shelves,
great hard wood flooring,
minimalist desk design
leather high back swivel chair
velvet lounge chair with foot rest
flat screen plasma
fire place
vertically stretched windows

Maybe one day when I am a famous writer, I could build one of these in a home, and could actually work at home, instead of a coffee shop downtown.

Dare to dream kids.

Giving Up, Giving In, Getting On with my life

2008-06-21T19:38:00.001-07:00

I had an epiphany tonight. At the conclusion of tonight's Saturday night service (preached by Mike Berry...shameless plug) I suddenly realized what was happening in my life.

I am in an intense fight to remain joyful.
This is a constant struggle, one that in my prior years I lost everyday. There was a time when I think I lost everyday for about 4 years. It was a long slow death that occurred in my heart, and the recovery period was long and is still going. It has been a long road back, but I feel that God is pulling me closer to him, and with every word I read, I feel the light of God breaking through the darkness that for so long ruled over my heart. The number of nights I have cried out to God that he would peel off the ugliness of my heart, and let his light shine through me are innumerable. I rejoice at how far God has brought me back, and am very thankful.

When I think back at how I have slowly been transformed, I find that my greatest victories, or days when I won, happened when I devoted myself fully to studying God's word and basked in the glory of his dominion over me. In those times it seemed the joy abounded from everywhere. Little things in life brought me intense joy, the changing of the seasons, the differences in the world, the simplistic nature of life. In began to see beauty in everything, and as a result my eyes were truly opened to the heartbreak in this world. It was a blessing to have seen what I saw, as I felt for a time I was seeing the world as Jesus saw it. Terribly beautiful and grand, but also very broken and in need of repair. I can hardly describe the feeling that I had......had.

Unfortunately over the past few months, these things have been robbed from me. Or better yet, I am being besieged, I am under attack.

I recognized that in those times I was living just as Christ intended, and I loved every second of it. Sadly I think Satan knew how much I loved my walk, and as a result he has targeted my life for disruption.

Now I have never been one to dwell on the powers that roam this earth, but we know that angels and demons battle over us everyday. They are constantly at work. Tonight it hit me like a ton of bricks that I was being worked on by evil powers.

The object of my internal destruction, my lack of faith in God.

It seems like I have been battling this forever, but in reality it has only been for about 3 years. It comes and goes, but lately it has eaten away at my faith. I never used to have a problem with it, because to be quite honest, I never really even thought about God being active in my life. I have been saved since I was very young, but only in the last 3 or 4 years have I taken it to heart. In this time I haven't really had a full-time job, have struggled to meet my financial needs, and have gone back to school in a search for significance and a career. I haven't ever felt called to do anything as a profession, and as a consequence I have roamed around without purpose for the past few years. During this time, Satan has used my uncertainty to make me self-loathing, feel worthless, question whether or not God is really in anything, and has beaten my self esteem down to the point that I don't feel like trying for fear of failure.

Tonight it came to me that I was allowing Satan to win battles, and in turn was allowing the Joy of the lord to be taken from me. Satan knows excactly how I can obsess, and he knows that when there is talk of my getting a job, applying for a job, or finding a profession, he knows that he can shut me down to the world by starting up my worrying. I worry, and in-turn I over-eat, and I retreat from the world.

I realized that when I do this, Jesus shakes his head with disgust.

Did he die to save the world, only so I could throw a pity party, and could retreat and not do his will? Did he come to earth and live a perfect life so I could give up and not be an active participant in my own life?
No, he did not.

Christ died and chose to save me so that I may perform his work, and give him glory. I found out tonight that in order to keep me from doing the work of Jesus, Satan attacks my self-esteem and causes me to fret about my "future". As a result I have resolved to quit letting Satan destroy Jesus' work. I pledged tonight to continue to be the hands and feet, and honestly say, who gives a crap about whether or not I have a full-time job. I am done worrying about this. When it is brought up, I will remind myself that the Lord will provide.

In the mean time I will push myself to be serving him in every capacity. I am not going to push doors open to find a career that I will be happy with, I am going to serve the Lord my God, and just see what happens.
There is a reason I haven't ever felt a calling on my life to do something specific. The only thing I could mustre was that the plan God has for me doesn't involve a life-track, or five year plan. God has something for me that will only be accomplished by my exhaustive efforts to serve him with all that I am.

Not only is this a confession, but it is a cry for help, and it is a charge to action.

My cry is that the Lord will guard my heart and mind, and allow me to continue to find joy in his word, and will open the doors to my serving him everyday. Wherever I go, I ask that he direct me to do his will.

My confession is that I resolve not to waste my life worrying about what society would have me be doing at this point in my life. I resolve not to worry about when I am going to move out, when I can afford my own place, and how I can being making serious payments to my college loans.

My charge is that, anyone who reads this will encourage me to SERVE GOD ABOVE ALL ELSE AND LET THE DETAILS SLIDE. I am begging all who believe to help me in this walk.

I do not know the plans that God has for me, but I know he has them. I have worried for years about how I can make things happen, and can start living like a man. I realized tonight that I have wasted years of my life in this pursuit.

I want to serve God and proclaim his glory and kindess to the world, I do not know how I will do that, but I am praying he will show me a little bit of his will everyday, and that someday, when my race is over, I will know that I got where he wanted me.

Restorative Justice and my thinking I am poor

2008-06-20T16:16:00.000-07:00

I caught myself the other day telling someone "I am too poor" to do something. I think it was getting my teeth cleaned at a cosmetic dentistry place. That is beside the point.

I actually told someone that I was too poor. I living in America in the year 2008 told someone that I was poor.

Jesus laughs at my failure to consider the global context of my statement. Somewhere he is saying; Seriously Andy, you think you are poor? Do you really think I have placed you in a state of poverty? Do you have any idea what real poverty is?

It occurs to me that I do not, and I got introspective about it today, and got fearful at my heart's definition of wealth.

I am trying hard to believe this, but I AM NOT POOR, I AM RICH BEYOND ALL MEASURE
I live in America, and while my financial means on this earth are not grand compared to the rest of my fellow Americans, in terms of the global context I am very rich. Even more importantly, in terms of eternity, I am very rich. I am blessed.

This Rob Bell video brought me back to a place where I think Jesus would want me.

Excellence From Piper in short

2008-06-19T21:53:00.000-07:00

Well, in 2 minutes and 45 seconds John Piper gets to the heart of why our churches aren't effective in the long term.

He pricks my heart too, I fell in love with the salvation portion of Jesus and not his holiness and his strength and might. I long to make this wrong a right.

Challenging Thoughts

2008-06-19T18:51:00.001-07:00

The following comes from a chapter in Francis Chan's book Crazy Love

Lukewarm people do not live by faith; their lives are structured so they never have to.

They don't have to trust God if something unexpected happens-they have their savings accounts. They don't need God to help them-they have their retirement plan in place. They don't genuinely seek out what life God would have them live-they have life figured and mapped out. They don't depend on God on a daily basis-their refrigerators are full and, for the most part, they are in good health. THE TRUTH IS, THEIR LIVES WOULDN'T LOOK MUCH DIFFERENT IF THEY SUDDENLY STOPPED BELIEVING IN GOD.

Reality check time. If I quit reading my Bible, stopped praying, and just renounced my religion; how would my life be different?

My sunday mornings and saturday nights would be spent in "me time" for once. Since I don't serve enough, the rest of my schedule would be virtually unaffected.

This is NOT GOOD.

How can I make it so that I am so dependent upon God that if I tried to walk without him I would look like a cripple? How can I do this? How do I become more reliant on God? I fear that living in America, and having parents that are so understanding and devoted to Christ, that I could usurp their God's provision through them, that my life would remain unchanged.

It occurs to me that I am not risking anything in the name of Christ. I have sacrificed the cross for my own comfort. I hate this and I feel as if I am neglecting everything Christ died for. I made a comment that someone who is so legalistic they are "denying the glory of the cross", yet in my life I deny the glory of the cross by not embracing the freedom he paid such a price to give me.

pray for my heart, and pray for opportunity.

Lovely Marietta

2008-06-19T12:52:00.000-07:00

Front street in Marietta, is the town's crown jewel, and yesterday Jenny, Tessa, and I took in all the sights. This is a picture from our day. Not a real photog but, I am trying.

Good story from DesiringGod

2008-06-19T08:48:00.001-07:00

this comes in John's sermon on Sovereign Grace.

Sovereign Grace being that we have eternal favor and the grace is constantly upon those who believe in Christ. He gave a good example of this.

Saturday, two weeks ago, Noël and Abraham and Barnabas and Talitha were
traveling to Georgia in the car and it broke down in a lonely stretch
about an hour south of Indianapolis. The radiator was shot. A farmer in
his mid-sixties pulls over and offers help. Noël says that she supposes
they need a motel and hopes that Monday morning there may be a garage
open to work on the car. The farmer says, "Would you like to stay with
me and my wife?" Noël hesitates and does not want to put them out. He
says, "The Lord said when we serve others, it's like serving him." She
says, "Well, could we go to church with you in the morning?" He says,
"If you can take a Baptist church."
So they stay with the farmer, who is also an aviation mechanic, and
who diagnoses the problem, drives to town Monday morning, buys a new
radiator, comes back, puts it in at no expense, and sends the family on
their way. In the meantime Barnabas has pulled his fishing rod out of
the car and caught a nineteen-inch catfish—for icing on the cake.
The God who can cause a farmer to stop to help Noël and who sees to
it that he is a Christian (even a Baptist!), and that he and his wife
have room for the family to stay, and that he is a mechanic, and that
he finds a radiator first thing Monday morning, and that he is willing
to take the time, and that he has a pond with catfish—this God is
perfectly able to keep a radiator from bursting open in the middle of
Indiana.

Good Quote

2008-06-15T16:59:00.003-07:00
It's God's job to judge, the Holy Spirit's job to convict, and my job to love.
~Billy Graham

Thanks be to God for he is Good

2008-06-12T14:03:00.000-07:00
I haven't told many but I finally got an interview for a teaching job.

I am going to Nordonia Ohio this evening, which is a suburb of Cleveland. It is a great opportunity and a huge answer to prayer. I haven't gotten a job or anything yet, but over the past couple months the hopes that I would even get an interview has waned significantly. I had become very defeated, and had resigned myself to finding another type of job completely.

Needless to say, this has restored my hope and has given me a jump start in faith.
Christ doesn't give us more than we can take, and mentally I was breaking and I am so glad he was faithful. Say a prayer for me that I will be relaxed during my interview, and above all this entire experience will be one that brings me closer to God and brings me under the umbrella of his will. That is what I want more than anything, and whether God desires me to serve him in Cleveland or Nairobi Kenya, I want do do just that.

Join our online Bible Study

2008-06-10T21:32:00.000-07:00

We need more, it is a forum, and our numbers are few.

We are doing the starting point curriculum 21 day guide, and we are on Luke chapters 19-20.
Pick up where we are and finish with us.

This is your chance, do as the disciples, drop what you are doing and follow.

FOLLOW THIS LINK

Heartofarebel.com

Do We Have it all wrong?

2008-06-10T09:24:00.000-07:00

For 4,000 years the Jews awaited the coming of a mighty savior. A messiah who would subject their oppressors to his hand and would deliver Israel. A new kingdom would be made and all Israelites or Jews would be brought up with the Savior.

They were led to believe it was a mighty savior. When Jesus spoke of the Kingdom coming today and being upon them, many followed him thinking that upon his arrival in Jerusalem he would conquer the oppressors and usher in kingdom of heaven.

They were misled, not by Jesus, but by the perpetuation that the savior would conquer by the sword. The people became so incensed that they delivered Jesus, the one they claim was blasphemous to the hands of Gentiles.

What does this tell us?

Today we wait the return of mighty savior. He will ride in and conquer the earth, the old will be made new and the world will rejoice in his return.

I can't help but wonder if we are missing the point as well. For much of the OT the coming of christ was referred to in an allegorical sense. That is why so many missed it when he came, it wasn't what they were looking for. It makes me wonder if today we are looking for the wrong thing?

I am trying to view the world as Jesus viewed it, and the more I read the less I believe that his return will be as the prophets described. Sure I believe that biblically it will fulfill all that was mentioned in Revelation and such, but I think we will have to really look at events to see it. It will take some inspection.

I think we need to keep our eyes open, and be of utmost humility and servitude. Then and only then do I think we will see the kingdom come on earth. Just as Jesus passed through the earth and many missed it, we must have eyes made to see and ears to hear so that when he returns to us we will not miss him, and we will see him as he is, a wonderful counselor, mighty savior, and ruler of all.

Fighting The Wants, Finding The Needs

2008-06-09T15:25:00.000-07:00

LO$T

When it comes to finances, it is easy to be lost and not even know it. There are many ways we become financially lost - sometimes we start off with a bad map, or perhaps we take a wrong turn accidentally, or maybe we get distracted by something we think we need. Whatever the reason, once we realize we are lost, we wonder how we got lost, and wonder even more how we can find our way back. The task can be daunting, but the good news is that God has given us clear directions to guide the way. Includes six messages: A Sudden Realization, Moving to Higher Ground, Flashback, You Are Not Alone, Finding Shelter, and Rescued.

As someone who has struggled financially and struggles to give God what is his (all of it), this sermon series has really helped put things in prospective. I encourage all of you to give it a listen.

Oh ME of little faith

2008-06-07T21:31:00.000-07:00
For someone so resolute and steadfast in the teachings of Christ, I do a fine job of neglecting him.

I have a tendency to think that God is small, and that he is a busy God and he is taking care of the poor, clothing the naked, and feeding the hungry. In my mind God is always at work in the Sudan or Somalia. I am better than those people and have been given greater gifts so God can just leave me to do my own thing, and help those that really need help.

In believing this I go about my business trying my hardest to build a life worth living and one that glorifies the Lord.

How arrogant is that?

What good is my creation if I do something great and stand back and say to God,
"Good Look what I did" or "Look what I can do"

This giant massive God who controls the seas, holds the universes, looks at my creation sees my ability and laughs.
Lately I have realized that God is laughing at me like a father to his 3 year old son. I am seeing the world differently as a result.

A good friend has a son who is nearing his 4th birthday, and everyday spent in his presence is a lesson. Example:

Hudson loves to play MarioKart on the Wii. His idea of playing is simply holding the steering wheel and careening into walls and throughout the course in the wrong direction. He joyfully plays the game and giggles and laughs at his crashes and his spins. Every so often he will yell to his daddy or myself and say, "Look at what I did". In these moments I realize that in my life I am like Hudson. I am holding tightly to the steering wheel of my life, trying to finish a race, all the while being totally incapable of driving. It is in these moments that I envision God looking down upon me when I attempt to show off to God.

"That's great Andy you finished, but your car is a wreck? Why do you not let me help you next race, do you not realize I could do much better?"

I sit in shame at how often I continue to do this. My ego is one that is need of a massive humbling. Where I got the idea that my way is best, and that my efforts are better than that of others and God doesn't need to help me, I do not know. How I can tell God;
"It's ok God, go help people who need you more, I got this."

It is about that time that my car goes flying off track and I end up on my knees in my bedroom crying at how I got back to this point. I get on my knees and feel just like a small child who realizes they cannot do it. Thankfully at that point I have a heavenly father who continues to want to take the wheel from my hands when I give it up. My pride is something dangerous and it is a daily struggle to relinquish it. Why it is such a struggle to relinquish it to the creator of all things is simple. I am not where I need to be spiritually.

It is my hope that my pride will die a little more everyday and the words of the lord will be burnt into my mind as I study.
When I read Luke 12:28
-But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith!

I realize that my faith while outwardly expressed as great is actually very small. It has long been my way or the highway. Fear has led me to believe that I can do better than God and that his plan for my life probably isn't best. It is my hope that tonight I will begin to earnestly die to self and realize that the life God has planned for me is greater than I can even imagine. If only I will give up the steering wheel.

How can we stop running?

2008-06-06T22:52:00.000-07:00

So this makes us all sick?
How do people keep driving by?
Why does no one rush to his side?
Where is the humanity in this?

For this there are no answers.

We have only the opportunity to look and see the true depravity of the hearts of men.

It is because of this neglect that Christ had to come and be a servant to all men, even unto death.

The world is broken, so broken that our hearts break at what has become of his creation.
How do we praise God knowing that buried in the depths of our hearts is something so dark and calloused that we would do the same thing?

We can tell ourselves that we would have stopped, we are positive that if that were us, we would pull over and would rush to his side.

The truth is the reality of our hearts is found in the persons who drove by. We all do things we are ashamed of and then we run. We hurt the ones we love, and we retreat for months to avoid their knowing we wronged them. We break the trust we worked long and hard to build, and we flee when found out. We lie and we run from the consequences.

We do this everyday, and we have our feet on the gas pedal just as they did. We may not have been driving away from a hit and run, but we commit hit and runs everyday.

We run.........because running is the only way to keep our hearts from breaking. We run because we realize that in the end, we are broken, just like those people in Connecticut.

We were born to run...........
Gen. 3:8 And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.

I don't know how to stop running. It is instinctive. I hate the feeling of being found out.
As Jesus said in Luke
Luke 8:17 -For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light.

How can we stop running?

Consuming Fire and Tall Tall Trees

2008-06-05T21:11:00.000-07:00

This is a forest fire......Everything in this picture minus maybe the deer.
All will perish. The splendor of God's creation will be cut down, and what once was beautiful and a paradise too many will be gone.

This is a terrible thing but is also an amazing thing.
How exactly is the destruction of a forest amazing?

Did you know that when heated pine cones will automatically open and their seeds will scatter the floor of the forest. Did you also know that the most conducive environment for the growth of a major forest is made with ash? The Giant redwoods of the American west were all birthed by fire. They need fire to live......They need an all consuming fire.

Pretty amazing that a consuming fire destroys and rebuilds miraculous things.

I want that fire. My soul cries out for that consuming fire.

This thought has been circling in my head today. I love the songs Fire Fall Down by Hillsong, Consuming Fire, Burn For You by Shane and Shane, and also the Glory of It All by Crowder. A general theme in these songs is fire, rebirth, and the fact that we will never be the same.

I love it that Christ sends a consuming fire destroying all that existed, and rebuilds it greater than it ever was. It is beautifully never the same. In our lives we experience periods where the fruit we produce is rotten and not worth admitting we grew it. In times like this we need fire. We don't really want the fire because it burns, but we want the ashes. We want what makes for great soil, we want the climate that produces great change and grows us greater than we could ever imagine. We want the Redwoods from where we were once patches of thorns.

Christ can provide, and while the fire burns and destroys what one was beautiful the design is such that all things are renewed and rebuilt greater than we were. In the midst of the fire thank God that in the ashes we become deeply rooted and grow again.

Here is an amazing video by the aforementioned David Crowder Band. I think it may be my favorite song of all time. I love it for everything that it is. The lyrics, the momentum, and the style. I am a man, but I can admit that I tear up nearly every time I hear it. The spirit moves in this song like few others. I love how his name is David, after the Psalmist. God sure has a funny way of making great music for us?

Scared, Excited, Nervous, Uncertain......yeah that is basically it

2008-06-04T21:48:00.000-07:00

Wow, what to say?

Seeking God's will for your life is a scary proposition in many cases, as God usually doesn't place you where you want.

As I see doors closing day by day to my being able to teach in the U.S., doors continue to open for me to teach abroad. Whether it be Nairobi Kenya or Brasilia Brazil, I am seeing opportunities that I have always feared being put before my feet.

I have caught singing this song to myself on occasion:
Beholding your beauty is all I long for
To worship You Jesus with my soul's desire
For this very heart you've shaped for your pleasure
The purpose to lift your name high

Hear and surrender in pure adoration
I enter your courts with an offering of praise
I am Your servant come to bring you glory
As is fit for the work of your hands

It hit me today that I sing that with no real belief in what I am singing. The fact that God may want me to go to Africa scares the heck out of me. It is massive, and it is something I have felt before, but have always talked myself out of it.

I love the idea of being the hands and feet of christ, and pursuing justice throughout the earth, but somehow in my mind's eye I envision myself doing this in the comfort of the good ol' USA. It is becoming clear that that may not be in the cards.

So when I sing the verse,
I am your servant, come to bring you glory, as is fit for the work of your hands

I begin to think twice. Gods hands are going to have to pick me up and move me it seems because my mind fails to be willing, while my heart is. I am excited to see what he has for me, but worry that it doesn't meet my wants. Funny how God's plans rarely meet our wants. Thankfully he gets us where we need to be, and blesses those who are willing to follow wherever he leads.

Where Does The Time Go?

2008-06-03T11:05:00.000-07:00

I admit that lately I have been really focused on myself.

It happens from time to time and I usually get there when things don't go my way.

I hate it that I keep coming to this, but I am thankful that I usually get thrown back into the right frame of mind. That frame of mind of course revolves around why I was really put on this earth. To glorify the father in all that I do.

My recent complaints and frustrations have failed to do that, and it seems that talking about it more just mires me even more in myself. I have been so focused on what I want to happen that I have completely ignored God's calling on my life. When I incorporate the fact that in my time sulking and whining I may have hindered someone from seeing Christ through my life, I am embarassed and ashamed.

I went through my calendar to see just how long I have been mired in this me-seeking behavior. Near as I can guess, it has been over five weeks. That is how long I put God on the shelf and said, let me do it. In case can't tell by this post, I am still nowhere, and am going back to God where I left him. I know he is with me always, but I don't want to put him down and pick him back up, I want him with me in every thought, and that has to come as a result of my focusing on his word and the blessings he has given.

Today is a new day, a day where I am marking the calendar as being one where I say,
"Lord here I am again, with no answers and no real direction. You know the desires of my heart, and I have petitioned them to you. I ask that you work in my heart that I will delight in your will for my life, and will abandon my wants in an effort to serve others. Your law is what I delight in and the joy of serving others is a gift you have given. Help me take my eyes of myself, and focus them on a world that needs you."

Picasa web slideshow

2008-05-31T01:42:00.000-07:00

Francis Chan: Crazy Love

2008-05-29T21:52:00.000-07:00

Francis Chan has a matter of fact way in his preaching.

He is kingdom minded in every sense of the word. His words consistently remind us that we are temperal, and that heaven is real and is what we are striving for and waiting for.

This is sobering in that it makes everyone in his audience think he is talking down to them, while at the same time they are dumbfounded as to how something so clear became so clouded over the years.

Crazy Love seems to hammer home the point that this relationship we have with God is meant to be a passionate head over heels relationship, and that every action is a quest for eternity.

Francis is one of those guys who just blows my mind. Along with David Crowder and Matt Redman I just wish that God could open my eyes to see what they see, and soften my heart so that I might share it.

Crazy Love seems to keep bringing me back to the reality of this all. God can seem far away, and my mortality and my eternal destination rarely creep into my mind. Francis has me excited for heaven, but more importantly has me excited to share the fact I am going with all I see.

As a child I used to say if the Rapture came, I would find the two closest people to me and hold on and witness to them until I reached heaven, hoping they would accept Christ. The cynic in me has dominated over the years, and makes me think that even then they will deny. Francis helps me realize, that in that moment there will be no room for compromise. There will be knees bowing, and we will join with the seraphims to sing

HOLY HOLY HOLY IS THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY

CRAZY to think about, but it is reality.

For Memorial Day

2008-05-26T16:33:00.001-07:00

Random Thoughts

2008-05-22T16:37:00.000-07:00

Petra wasn't found until 1812, nearly 2,000 after its creation.

This makes me wonder what else is still left to discover? Will Eden be found?
Will man stumble upon Noah's Ark? If wading through the Jordan River I find a significant collection of rocks obviously built as a monument, will the world be any different?

So much of our world has yet to be explored, and we strive to search the galaxies hoping to find answers to questions we haven't yet answered.

I know this may sound deep, but does anyone else feel that the answers we are seeking are probably found here on earth?

Drunk with information?

2008-05-22T16:25:00.000-07:00

This is an external hard drive, not a flask.
Why in the world are we making portable data devices that look like containers for booze?
What's next a computer that looks eerily similar to a 24 pack of Bud Light?

This is not a computer

This man took a polaroid picture every day

2008-05-21T19:29:00.000-07:00
His life is caught in a series of polaroid pictures and you can see happiness, despair, and genuine love and friendship.

Truly amazing. Look at it

The Photos of Jamie Livingston

Great Weekend

2008-05-19T09:01:00.000-07:00
Wow what a weekend!

Saturday Night was PraiseFest at our church, and the bands did a bang up job. 2 hours of a large group extolling praises on our heavenly father. The people from Women of Purpose, Brian "Funky Wigal Style", the Frequency Saturday Night band, Mike Berry all did a bang up job. It was a pleasure to be part of such a night. I know the Lord looks down in favor of those who see his greatness and sing of his greatness. He is a jealous God and is worthy of all praise!

Finishing the evening off with the Tomlin version of Amazing Grace was outstanding and seems to always strike a chord. A finer song hasn't been written, and it makes me believe that believers will be singing that song in unison until Christ returns to take us home. It is an anthem for all generations, much like the Bible, simplistic in message yet poignant powerful and dramatic.

After the PraiseFest I got to go home and begin reading the new Francis Chan book, Crazy Love. So far so awesome. He writes much like Crowder in that, he sees beauty in all things and captures just how great God is and how his creation screams out in praise. I am amazed at how these men think and wish God would open my eyes in the ways theirs have been opened. Simply amazing.

Sunday Morning the Youth rocked out FBCW playing a great set, and having Cody throw in the Todd Fields tune Let Me Sing was especially good. Cody also hit the nail on the head during his sermon, we all need to do a bit of mentoring and also need to seek to be mentored. It was concise and impactful.

After church had a good lunch and great fellowship with friends. This is why so many love the church, because the church is the body of believers and having a group like I have to spend time with is indescribingly appealing.

That night the church building committee unveiled the plans for the new foyer and also the educational wing. It is an exciting time at FBCW, truly exciting. The lord has the church in a place to use it for the proclamation of his glory. We are thankful to be in this place, and will be continually striving to be where God wants us so that he will use us for his glory.

Stay tuned for the plans for the new additions, I will pilfer them from the committee and post them for all to see. Have a great week!

When Temptation Has You In Its Sights

2008-05-08T20:02:00.001-07:00
Uh WOW, this is spot on. One of the better things I have read in a while regarding Temptation

This comes from a source many of you may not have heard of, but it is pretty insightful and well put together.

#204. Thinking temptation just "kind of happens." (AKA the people to have affairs with don't just fall from the sky theory.)

A few months ago, I found a young woman in underwear in my living room. I had just walked in the front door after work and there she was. She screamed. I stepped back out of the house and shut the front door. After waiting for a few seconds I walked back in to find her laughing with my wife.

Apparently a mutual friend had given my wife a bunch of clothes she no longer wanted. So they were trying them on, seeing what fit best. Since there were three children under the age of four running around, they decided to just put the clothes on right there in the living room.

Now although that was a moment of comedy, not temptation, I think that’s how I like to pretend temptation works. When I fall and look back on the steps that got me there, I like to imagine that I was casually going about my day when some young, attractive woman in underwear fell from the sky. Out of nowhere, an unexpected moment took me by surprise and caught me off guard. It was beyond my control. Who knew I was headed down this path?

But I don’t think temptation works that way. The more I learn about me and the things that continue to wound me, the more I realize that temptation is a lot like an article I recently read in Field & Stream magazine. In the April 2007 issue, which I know you have as well, there’s a special section on how to build a “food plot.” A food plot is a small piece of land that a hunter cultivates to attract deer. It’s essentially a kill zone that is delicately and deliberately grown to provide the most trophy bucks possible.

That’s how I think temptation works. More specifically, using the Field & Stream instructions on how to build a food plot, this is what I think temptation does to us:

1. Pick a Spot
We all have spots, don’t we? Places in our hearts where we are weakest, and usually temptation knows exactly where they are. It’s crazy how consistent they are. I would say that since I was about 12, I’ve had the same spot and temptation rarely needs to pick a new one. The spot is rarely new and when we don’t identify them, temptation can hit them again and again and again.

2. Clear the Plot
Temptation works best in isolation. When you’re in community with other people, when you’re accountable and not keeping secrets, it’s much harder for temptation to grab hold of you. So one of the first things temptation does is clear your life of close relationships.

3. Kill and Till
With people out of the way, it’s now time to get rid of any good influences you have. Reading, journaling, silent time in general gets suffocated out of your life as temptation tries to eradicate any port you could sail to in the storm that is on its the way.

4. Prep the Soil
I’ve said a billion times that no one wakes up on a Tuesday and decides to have an affair or embezzle money. It’s a slow process that takes time, a death of a thousand cuts if you will. At this point, temptation is getting you ready, making you receptive to difficult decisions. Your support network is gone, the good things in your life have been removed and now, you’re suddenly faced with a small crossroads.

5. Plant the Seed
For me, at this point, I’m so far gone that it’s difficult to turn back. That’s something we often forget about temptation, it has tremendous momentum. What might have been stoppable at step 1 or even 2 is now a freight train of emotions and frustration heading for a crash. And the seeds within my heart are growing.

6. Hunt the Plot
This is the part of the story where I get a small bullet hole right behind my ear as I casually go about my day. The part where something from the shadows crushes me and leaves me dead one more time. Field & Stream suggests, “Don’t make the mistake of creating a great plot and then sticking a big tower stand along an open edge. Deer will learn to avoid the plot after only a few hunts.” That’s so true. If temptation was obvious, if it carried a neon sign that said “I will wreck your marriage,” I would probably avoid it. But it never does, so I walk back into the food plot again and again.

Temptation is never a girl that falls from the sky, a big trash bag full of money that lands on your doorstep or a pot plant that suddenly grows in your backyard. It’s a hunter with a laser scope and a kill zone and all the time in the world. And if we’re not careful, if we don’t stay in community and keep our ground covered with good things and avoid the smallest seeds of temptation in our hearts, we’ll all end up with our heads mounted on a wall.

p.s. I've written about this before but if some other blogger already did a story comparing temptation to the food plot Field and Stream suggested you design as a buck hunter, then my bad.

Here's a link to the article, and the site
http://stufffchristianslike.blogspot.com/2008/05/204-thinking-temptation-just-kind-of.html

How To Respond To the Cyclone in Myanmar

2008-05-06T18:38:00.001-07:00

As the carnage from Cyclone Nargis moves toward 50,000 dead and beyond, there is a way to pray and act:

1. Be softened to the pain nearby.

The Good Samaritan knew nothing of the calamities in first century Burma, but was commended by the Lord for mercies at hand (Luke 10:25-37).

2. Pray for the followers of Christ in Myanmar:

That they would be still and know that God is God (Psalm 46:10; 100:3).
That they would be awakened from the illusion that this life is long or sure or the main point of eternal existence (James 4:14).
That they would be given a new vision of the supreme value of Christ who promises his followers that famine, nakedness, and death will not separate them from his love (Romans 8:35).
That God would meet their needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus, so that they might have to give to those in need (Philippians 4:19; Ephesians 4:28).

3. Pray for the millions of unbelievers near the calamity and far from it:

That they would see the helplessness of man before the Power that rules the world and fly to Christ who alone delivers from the final cyclone of God's wrath (1 Thessalonians 1:10).
That they would not respond like the people in Revelation (9:20; 16:9, 11) who did not repent at the devastation but cursed God.
That they would hear the best news in all the world—not the news of health, wealth, and prosperity in this world, but the news that Christ became a curse for us (Galatians 3:13) so that in him we can be more than conquerors in every calamity of life (Romans 8:37).

4. Pray for those of us who live in the seeming security and prosperity of America:

That we would see what is about to break over us in due time—either collectively as God removes the hand of his providential restraint, or individually as one by one we are whisked to the hospital, then wheeled to the nursing home, and then carried to the funeral home (Hebrews 9:27).
That millions would be made to see this and repent from the adultery of treasuring anything more than Christ (James 4:4).

5. Give money to replenish the coffers of compassion "since you also are in the body" (Hebrews 13:3).

6. Muster a team from your church, and when the doors are open, be ready to go.

This kind of going always has the promise of a special, "I will be with you to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:20).

Praise Habit Conclusion

2008-05-05T19:21:00.000-07:00

So I am finishing the book Praise Habit by David Crowder and I must say

David Crowder is both:
predictable yet enigmatic
creative yet conventional
obsessive yet lackadaisical

The book praise habit will take you in multiple directions, consistently letting you wonder why in the heck anyone let Crowder write a book. However, while he meanders through the Psalms he consistently brings you back to his purpose for writing.

It is summed up here:

Our task is to live with eyes wide open to God's greatness because when we see the imprint of the Creator, our insides will swell with devotion, our hearts will erupt with thankfulness. You will live, breathe, and radiate praise. The habit isn't learning how to praise, it is in reminding yourself who to praise. It is a remember of who you are. It is a remembering of your identity. Praise is redeemed and refined with rescue. When you have been found by grace, your identity is swallowed in Christ.

This sums it all up

Crowder wants you to open your eyes to what is already there. So much of the blessing we miss, and so many things God made for us to marvel at and to glorify him in. This includes his monument, his creation....his people. Crowder sees the world through glasses I only wish I could put on.

Why we no longer adhere to Old Testament Law

2008-04-29T20:36:00.001-07:00
Some persons have been making comments about Christians being hypocritical because
"we do not even follow the Bible that we so often bash over peoples heads"

It was made a point that if we did, we would still be
-stoning children
-burning homosexuals at the stake
-avoiding our wives at the time of their period

This is for all of those persons who may think that we should still fall under OT law.
Courtesy of Desiring God.org

How Christ Fulfilled and Ended the Old Testament Regime
By John Piper February 23, 2005

The glory of Jesus Christ shines more clearly when we see him in his proper relation to the Old Testament. He has a magnificent relation to all that was written. It is not surprising that this is the case, because he is called the Word of God incarnate (John 1:14). Would not the Word of God incarnate be the sum and consummation of the Word of God written? Consider these summary statements and the texts that support them.

1. All the Scriptures bear witness to Christ. Moses wrote about Christ.

John 5:39, 46: You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me. . . . If you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me.

2. All the Scriptures are about Jesus Christ, even where there is no explicit prediction. That is, there is a fullness of implication in all Scriptures that points to Christ and is satisfied only when he has come and done his work. “The meaning of all the Scriptures is unlocked by the death and resurrection of Jesus.” (Graeme Goldsworthy, Preaching the Whole Bible as Christian Scripture, p. 54)

Luke 24:27: And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

3. Jesus came to fulfill all that was written in the Law and the Prophets. All of it was pointing to him even where it is not explicitly prophetic. He accomplishes what the Law required.

Matthew 5:17-18: Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.

4. All the promises of God in the Old Testament are fulfilled in Jesus Christ. That is, when you have Christ, sooner or later you will have both Christ himself and all else that God promised through Christ.

2 Corinthians 1:20: For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.

5. The law was kept perfectly by Christ. And all its penalties against God’s sinful people were poured out on Christ. Therefore, the law is now manifestly not the path to righteousness, Christ is. The ultimate goal of the law is that we would look to Christ, not law-keeping, for our righteousness.

Romans 10:4: For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

Therefore with the coming of Christ virtually everything has changed:

1. The blood sacrifices ceased because Christ fulfilled all that they were pointing toward. He was the final, unrepeatable sacrifice for sins. Hebrews 9:12: “He entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.”
2. The priesthood that stood between worshipper and God has ceased. Hebrews 7:23-24: “The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever.”
3. The physical temple has ceased to be the geographic center of worship. Now Christ himself is the center of worship. He is the “place,” the “tent,” and the “temple” where we meet God. Therefore Christianity has not geographic center, no Mecca, no Jerusalem. John 4:21-23: “Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. . . . But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth.’” John 2:19-21: “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. . . . He was speaking about the temple of his body.” Matthew 18:20: “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”
4. The food laws that set Israel apart from the nations have been fulfilled and ended in Christ. Mark 7:18-19: “[Jesus] said to them, ‘Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him . . . (Thus he declared all foods clean).’”
5. The establishment of civil law on the basis of an ethnically rooted people, who are ruled directly by God, has ceased. The people of God are no longer a unified political body or an ethnic group or a nation-state, but are exiles and sojourners among all ethnic groups and all states. Therefore, God’s will for states is not taken directly from the Old Testament theocratic order, but should now be reestablished from place to place and from time to time by means that correspond to God’s sovereign rule over all peoples, and that correspond to the fact that genuine obedience, rooted as it is in faith in Christ, cannot be coerced by law. The state is therefore grounded in God, but not expressive of God’s immediate rule. Romans 13:1, “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.” John 18:36: “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting.”

Let us worship the wonder of Christ who unleashed these massive changes in the world.

Urban Gardening

2008-04-20T19:52:00.001-07:00

Thought this was funny

Frequency Saturday Night: Live Blog

2008-04-19T16:47:00.000-07:00
Greetings friends,

I am in attendance saturday night here at FBC Williamstown, and since we have wifi in here and I am with mac, I decided to live blog the whole event.

Hopefully this will be cool because it will show what Pastor Mike is talking about and will be a witness, and at the same time it can show you how taking notes in Church can transform your walk with Christ.

Here we go......
7:10- late start but nice start, band is amped up plays a nice set
- You are God~Todd Fields version
- Undignified~Crowder
- Lord's Prayer (amped up version)
- couple others but i forgot their names already

7:25-
Jesus & Politics of Power
Mike's mother;
"I don't like church politics and the place is full of hypocrites."

Why is there an idea of power mongering surrounding the church?
What did Jesus do about this?
It clouded the church then, so what did Jesus do.

Jesus could have taken all the power and kept it for himself, or could have destroyed the system. Church could have been destroyed, yet he upheld it. Why?

Jesus lived outside the confines of power his whole life.
His apostles were nomadic, Christ never charged for healings while some did (aka no Benny Hinn), and Jesus and his followers paid the taxes.

When Jesus talks about taxes, is he talking about not hurting your witness? Is he really saying not to be a bad example? Don't be a trouble maker?
How can you exude the joy of Christ if you are making trouble.

How do we illustrate Jesus in a political debate? How do we show we follow Christ.

The politics of today don't influence your Christian walk?
There are lots more followers of Christ than Americans
We are pledging allegiance to Christ before America.
End the blanket statement~Christian Conservative!

Being too politically charged will kill our witness. It is too polarizing even more so than "religion" in developed countries.

(Mike makes mention of Jim Wallis book God's Politics, and Tony Campolo's Red Letter Christians.
I haven't read Campolo's book, but Wallis' book isn't bad. It isn't riveting but it does a good job of exposing myths about God's role in our government)

Mike talks about his father's single-mindedness regarding politics. He is a staunch democrat, purely because of their stance on labor.

This can create problems in conversations with him. You have to steer around it.

Philipians 2: 3-11
Phillipi is a roman city. It was given citizenship so the people struggle with their allegiance. Paul tells them where their allegiance should be.

3 Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, [1] 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, [2] being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Paul draws them in by saying, "your power comes from him. You are connected to Jesus, everything from there is outflow."
Jesus humbled himself in every conversation.

Mike is losing me a bit with the story about his high school debate practices. Note to Mike if he reads this, after you introduce scripture, you should stay in it. Introduce the info with your story, then stay with your text.

To sum up Mike's story, human experience shapes your beliefs as you grow.
How do we stand on those issues knowing we have Christ?
How do we show tolerance where we are perceived to have none.

Are we willing to let politics open the door to Jesus in conversation?
Inject Christ into the political world view.

Would Jesus be a protestor or a pacifist? We see lots of both in his life.
How does carrying a sign saying Abortion Kills help anyone?
We need to embrace the person and try to show them Christ.
Don't view the world with political glasses on,
view it with Jesus on your eyes.

We cannot close the door on any conversation claiming a difference between democrat and republican. That may hinder the holy spirit working to evangelize in you. We need to be consistently evangelizing.
On the heels of an election, we need to be ever mindful of the importance of our witness. With such a hot button issue before us, find a way to inject Christ into it.

Closing prayer.....good word.
"let our flag of being owned by Christ fly higher than our political flag."

Music by Dave and the boys
-thank your loving me~

Being Kingdom Minded

2008-04-14T08:33:00.000-07:00
I read things about how churches like North Point in Alpharetta Ga and Bethlehem Baptist in Minneapolis give millions to churches they haven't ever seen or will even attend.

Makes me wonder, why it is so central for churches to spend money on their own buildings or ministries.

The greatest churches I can think of have meager means, but manage to send out missionaries, give what they have to those in need, and do amazing things for widows and orphans.

Granted the churches I mentioned above are huge monster churches with gigantic programs and buildings, they still tell me that what we do in our church isn't globally impactful or kindgom minded.

How can we improve? Suggestions?

Soldiers for Black Freedom?

2008-04-11T19:43:00.001-07:00

thoughts on worhip

2008-04-09T12:00:00.000-07:00
courtesy of blog.worship.com

It's been 100 days since I last led musical worship at my home church (or any church, or anywhere outside my wife's hospital room, for that matter). For the past three months, I have been living in a hospital, as my wife awaits a double lung transplant and my micro-preemie daughter struggles to survive long enough to make it home with us.

The hospital is nearly 4 hours from home. I haven't been more than 40 minutes away from the hospital. I often think about our life and ministry back home, miss it more than words and can't wait to be back. I even find myself missing the things about the ministry that I once either tried to ignore or wanted to be completely rid of.

Here are a few things about my role as a worship leader that I will never take for granted again...

The old man who never seems to be satisfied.
The little girl who always asks for my autograph.
The musician who is always late.
The sound tech who is always early.
The unexpected change to the order of service.
The service that seems perfect.
The one guest who thinks they'll never be the same.
The one member who just doesn't get it.
The energy of Sunday morning.
The weariness of Sunday night.The sermon that seems to go a little long.
The song that seems to be a little short.
The job that I love to do.
The hat that I hate to wear.
The prayer that was definitely not coming from my lips.
The joke that didn't quite fly.
The guitar string that breaks during the first song.
The vocalist who nails the solo.
The stress of 8:45am (Sunday).
The contentment of 12:30pm.

If you're tempted, this Sunday, to take anything for granted, even the frustrating things, stop and consider that you have one of the greatest jobs and most privileged opportunities in leading others in worship of the One True God.

And, rock the house for me.

Thanks.

Nate

Consider it

2008-04-03T13:29:00.001-07:00

We are all guilty of it.
Makes me sick to think that I type from a computer that could feed children in Ethiopia for a lifetime.

Pink Eye Update...Day 3

2008-04-02T12:11:00.001-07:00

My right eye is healing nicely I think.
While Red it doesn't feel sore

Sadly the left eye is now sore.

One of the few times in my life I have wished I was cycloptic.

Hopefully this fiasco will be over and my ailments that are generally reserved for 9 year olds will pass.

Pink Eye+Lots of Free Time=

2008-04-01T18:29:00.001-07:00

ZERO UNREAD ITEMS in my Google Reader

Those of you who don't have a reader haven't a clue, but those who do know how much this can build on you. Despite my bank account I have been busy over the last week, and the reader built up above 500.

Thanks to my little ailment, I am now all caught up.
I don't know whether to thank Google, or curse it.

Shame, Desperation, Anger

2008-03-23T20:40:00.000-07:00

I just couldn't do it today.

I can't watch it, I don't even want to think it.
Whether it was the brief showing in church or the history channel's analysis of the crucifixion and its social political context.

I can't look at it.

How can anyone?

Have we desensitized ourselves, or do we forget that in his suffering Christ died for US. Not some people back in 33AD or a few apostles. Christ died for us.

What does that mean, it means we are the ones hammering his hands to the cross, we are piercing his side, we are casting lots for his garments, we are the ones spitting on him.

Why would you want to watch the carnage. It is our legacy of depravity. While you may not have been there, your legacy of sin was. I am sorry if you don't feel the same, but I am ashamed and physically ill from what I did to Jesus.

Why would I want to relive the most degrading and shameful thing I have ever done over and over again? Easter is a day of joy and celebration, lets not forget that. He is risen, he defeated our death and our sin. He defeated the sins that were made on that day and every day after.

Truly a Good Friday

2008-03-21T17:48:00.000-07:00

2008 years ago crowds similar to that in the picture, jeered, cursed, and spat upon a common carpenter from the town of Nazareth.

The amazing part is Jesus did so willingly, humbling himself before men, fulfilling the promise of his father, becoming a lamb before a slaughter so we can gain an eternity in heaven.

The plan is unfathomable, and to a lost world, the idea that we need saving from our own depravity is unthinkable. I believe it is truth, and because of my conviction I die to christ everyday and am thankful for a plan that I find ridiculous.

We all deserve an eternal death, yet because of love, unwaivering love, I am remembered in paradise.

It truly is a good friday.

Caption This Photo

2008-03-19T10:18:00.001-07:00
insert caption here...............

Guarding your heart

2008-03-18T22:11:00.001-07:00
More Andy Stanley greatness

Here is what Andy suggested we ask ourselves every night before we go to bed in order to protect our hearts.

-Is everything Ok in my heart?
-am i mad at anyone?
-am i waiting for someone to make things right with me?
-have i had imaginary extended conversations with someone?
-do i lose the filter and embarass myself with my words?
-have i celebrated someone else's failure?
-do i have a secret eating away in me?
-is there a question i hope that no one asks?
-have i lied to someone i love recently?

answer those and give each up to God and pray this prayer.

Father teach me to guard my heart for it is the well spring of life

23 Keep your heart with all vigilance,
for from it flow the springs of life.
24 Put away from you crooked speech,
and put devious talk far from you.
25 Let your eyes look directly forward,
and your gaze be straight before you.
26 Ponder the path of your feet;
then all your ways will be sure.
27 Do not swerve to the right or to the left;
turn your foot away from evil.

Modern day Tower of Babel?

2008-03-18T21:25:00.001-07:00

Well, here it is the proposed height of the newest skyscraper in the Middle East. Makes me wonder why anyone would build such a thing. I am amazed at things we can build, but this just seems dangerous. Maybe I am just a worry wort. Idk?

Todd Fields new tune: Let Me Sing

2008-03-05T21:40:00.000-08:00
This guys blows me away.

Help me to find you, cuts me to my core.
and this little diddy is a great one to sing to your savior.

LET ME SING by Todd Fields

A Sample:
Let me sing
for the mercy you given
undeserving and broken I am
though I've turned away
your faithfulness remains
Let me live in the light of forever
as i walk through the course of my days
and join to proclaim, with all of the saints
the ONLY WORTHY NAME
Let me shine,
louder than creation to you
for the pain you bore in your body,
to lift my soul to you.
Let me shine,
brighter than the stars than the stars in the sky
and offering of praise of my life
to you my only king.
Let me sing.

ENJOY!!

God's plan won't be stifled, just ask Paul

2008-03-04T13:03:00.000-08:00

More goodness from Pastor John

(Author: John Piper)
What about those hungry fellows who promised not to eat till they ambushed Paul?
We read about them in Acts 23:12, “When it was day, the Jews made a plot and bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink till they had killed Paul.” It didn't work. Why? Because a string of unlikely events happened.
A boy over heard the plot.
The boy was the son of Paul's sister.
The boy had the courage to go to the Roman centurion guarding Paul.
The centurion took him seriously and brought him to the Tribune.
The Tribune believed him and prepared “two hundred soldiers, with seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen” to take Paul to safety.
Highly unlikely. Strange. But that's what happened.
What had the hungry men lying in ambush missed? They failed to reckon with what happened to Paul just before they made their plot. The Lord appeared to Paul in prison and said, “Take courage, for as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome” (Acts 23:11).
Christ said Paul was going to Rome. And that was that. No ambush can stand against the promise of Christ. Until he got to Rome, Paul was immortal. There was a final testimony to be given. And Christ would see to it that Paul would give it.
You too have final testimony to give. And you are immortal until you give it.

2008-03-04T12:31:00.000-08:00

Threw out Ecto a while ago, didn't like the way it posted pictures and thought it was a waste. This was done in Qumana.

Hopefully it looks ok.

This is the test run.

Powered by Qumana

Prayers Needed

2008-03-04T09:14:00.000-08:00
A dear friend of our church is gravely ill and is ready for heaven.

Keith Harrison,

one of the most diligent servants I have ever known, has had lung cancer and is nearing his final days. I ask that you pray for Keith and his family during this time.

Keith has witnessed to hundreds since his cancer diagnosis, and I know that his service has ministered to countless others during his lifetime. He was a rock at Evergreen Bible Church and will be sorely missed by everyone.

Words from Paul comfort us all on days like today

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
-2 Corinthians 4:16-18

This post is for my dad

2008-03-04T09:12:00.001-08:00

This is Larry Norman, the original Christian rocker. My dad was/is a big fan of Larry. He died this weekend after being pretty ill. He was 60 years old.

Only Visiting this Planet, Larry's 1972 album was voted by CCM the greatest Christian music album of all time.

Obama video says so much, yet nothing at all.

2008-02-29T20:32:00.001-08:00

Celebrity endorsement..........SOLD

So i guess if Obama is elected, the earth will be saved from green house gases, poverty will end, and all minorities will no longer feel oppressed here in the U.S.

Such a crock.